by Matt Wright
This past Monday evening (October 28, 2019) kicked off the 2019 regular season for the Lady Lions basketball team in a barn burner against the Fayette East Bulldogs. Fayette East is considered to be one of the two or three best teams LMPS will face all season and one of the best teams in the region. The same Fayette East team team beat Lakeland by almost 40 points just last year. Monday evening was different though. The Lions, coached by Head Coach Candice McGuire, played the Bulldogs tough the entire game but lost a close game in the end. “The girls were upset about losing and I told them that’s how far we’ve come. Last year we could not stay with that team, but this year, we had plenty of chances to win”, said Coach McGuire.
Lakeland has already experienced success in volleyball and girls soccer this fall and ladies basketball is expected to have just as much success. It’s a testament to Coach McGuire, now in her 3rd season as the head coach and her commitment to the basketball program. In fact, it’s a family commitment! Her husband, Kris, is the assistant coach on the ladies team. “Every day, my girls come to practice eager to learn and grow as players. This year, I am fortunate enough to have a team built upon a core group of ladies who began with me as sixth graders when we opened LMPS. To watch them grow as individual players and teammates is incredible!” articulated Coach McGuire.
In the game against Fayette East, the Lakeland ladies used old school fundamentals, something missing from much of the modern game of basketball, to almost pull the upset. Effective passing against the press, working to get to the free throw line and hitting many of those shots (while Fayette East struggled hitting theirs), and good old fashioned “grit and grind” (as we like to say here in Memphis). Coach McGuire agreed saying, “Every day we commit to play with “heart & hustle” and it’s undeniable when you watch these girls play that they do just that!” She added, “I expect big things from them this year as they put their hearts on the court at every game.”
The Lady Lions play again next Monday, Nov. 4th, against Millington.
