Sallisaw senior enjoying Lady Diamonds’ success on the hardwood

At this point last season, the Sallisaw Lady Diamonds were 3-5.

Fast forward a year, and the Lady Diamonds are 5-2 and ranked 20th in Class 4A. In fact, last season’s fifth win did not come until the consolation semifinals of the Pryor Tournament, which took place the third week of last January.

Senior Kayli Macon believes there’s a lot of reasons for the Sallisaw girls basketball success enjoyed during the pre-Christmas portion of this season.

“I feel it’s the different dynamic in the team,” Macon said. “The players that played last year (and are back this season) are getting a little bit more playing time, so they’re more focused on what they’re doing. They’re not as nervous. I feel that’s helped out. I feel with (new assistant coach Greg) Pratt coming in and doing the new defense. That has helped a lot, too.”

Macon said the new style of basketball, in which the team is basically using full-court pressure defense against the opposition, is also contributing to the Lady Diamonds’ early hoop success.

“It’s made us speed up and has made us play a lot faster and harder than last year, since we played a lot of ‘off-the-ball’ last year,” sad Macon, who was a member of the First National Basketball Classic All-Tournament Team after the Lady Diamonds claimed third place in the three-day tournament that took place Dec. 12-14 at Bethel High School in Shawnee. “It’s caused a lot of turnovers, which has helped with getting lay-ups and getting us to score a little bit more than we did last year.”

Macon believes this success will carry over into next month’s postseason play to help the Lady Diamonds do better than last season’s 0-2 postseason record.

“I think at the end of the season, we’ll get a good (draw) for district play,” she said. “If we win districts, I feel like it will push us to win more. I think this success will carry on (into the playoffs).”

For her Sallisaw High School basketball career, when Macon returns from Christmas Break, the Lady Diamonds are not seeing action in the annual Sequoyah County Tournament. This year, it’s going to be a different scenario for Macon and the Lady Diamonds as they will play in the three-day Henryetta Tournament, which is beginning Thursday, instead of playing in the Sequoyah County Tournament.

“I feel the one year that we’re not in, we actually would have had a chance to win it — which is kind of devastating,” Macon said.

However, Macon and the Lady Diamonds actually are looking forward to the new venture next week.

“It will be a nice change, just to change things up,” the Sallisaw senior said. “I think it will be a fun tournament. It’s going to be different. We’re going to see different teams we haven’t seen before.”

However, for right now, things are going splendidly for Macon.

“I’ve enjoyed it,” she said. “It’s been a fun senior year so far.”

More than likely, Macon’s athletic career will end after her senior seasons playing basketball and running track for the Lady Diamonds.

“I don’t think I will (play in college),” Macon said. “I’ve got knee injuries and ankle injuries.”