New look for Indians

The Comanche Indians will have a whole new look this year after losing all five starters to graduation last season.

Coach Anthony Bowie is still optimistic, however, that he has a team that can make some noise in the 2023-24 season.

“It’s quite different than last year,” said Bowie, who begins his third season as the Comanche head coach. “We lost a lot of experience and they were just great, overall kids. It’s definitely a challenge. I feel like some of the kids I have now I’ve had since they were freshmen and they got a good chance to see what I’m about, what I’m trying to do philosophy-wise, so they know me and that’s a good thing.”

Comanche finished 9-17 overall last season and the Indians were eliminated in the regional consolation semifinals by Lindsay.

The Indians do have seven seniors - Colby Shannon, T.C. Lindsey, Brycen Lassley, Jiovanni Demry, Payton Jones, Kruz Lile and Clovis Berg - but only Shannon, Lindsey and Lassley were on the team last year.

Shannon was the first player off the bench last season and even started several games filling in for injured players and can get hot from the field. He put up 27 points twice last season, including the upset of Marlow in Comanche.

“This group right now is young, but they play hard, they compete and they’re here every day,” Bowie said. “They’re well-coached kids, they’re tenacious and they all want to show what they can do. Colby will kind of be our feature guy this year. He’s a lot more vocal than he has been in the past with some of these early practices, and that’s a positive for us.”

The Indians will fill up the bench. Besides the seven seniors, there are five juniors, eight sophomores and six freshmen.

“Brycen sat and watched the last few years and it’s come out time for him,” Bowie said. “We lost Hollister (Pollock) to a knee injury and that’s a big loss for us.”

A new player expected to be a key contributor is Demry, a transfer from Deer Creek in Edmond. 

“He’s a pretty good little guard,” Bowie said. “He can shoot the lights out and is a high IQ kid. “(Freshman) Easton Bowen will contribute a little bit. (Junior) Cooper Epperson will contribute. (junior) Jonathan Alvarez and T.C. will contribute.”

It may take a bit to work out the kinks, but Bowie thinks his team will be just fine.

“I think as the season progresses, you will see some things come together just because of playing experience,” Bowie said. “But these guys are hungry, they are ready to play. I mean, they are really ready, so I’m excited about that.”

In pre-season scrimmages, the coach noted the team has been able to play at a faster pace.

“We’ve been able to trap, whether it’s full-court or half-court,” Bowie said. “We’ve been able to do a lot of little things. We’re smaller than what we have been. We had big Hunter Lassley in the middle last year, so we’re a smaller team and that’s how we are going to have to play.”