Marion girls turn the corner

MARION—After taking over the Marion girls basketball team five years ago, Leon Sturkey wasn’t concerned as much about building a team as he was a program.

“I think if you look at places like Lee Central, coach (Dorothy) Fortune has done an excellent job building a winning tradition and getting kids to buy into her system year after year,” Sturkey said.

“That’s what we wanted to build at Marion. Not just a team that could compete for one year, but a program that could be competitive for a long time.”

And this season might just prove that Sturkey and the Swamp Foxes are headed in that direction.

After winning less than 15 combined games in Sturkey’s first two seasons, Marion posted back-to-back 19-win campaigns in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

A big part of the Swamp Foxes success came from Rhodi Gause, who averaged 15 points and 13 rebounds per game.

But despite losing Gause and Delesha Williams, who’s now playing for Morris College, the Swamp Foxes are off to a 9-1 start this season.

“We made the second round of the playoffs last year,” Sturkey said. “Every team has goals, but I think the expectations for this team have gone up.”

Filling the void

With two starters gone, including one all-state player, the Swamp Foxes entered the season in need of some offensive contributions from some of their younger players.

Through 10 games, sophomore Candance Wright has more than exceeded expectations, Sturkey said.

Wright is averaging 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in her first season on the varsity squad.

“Watching her in JV last year, I knew she was going to be a good basketball player,” Sturkey said. “I didn’t think she’d come out and be our leading scorer, but I knew the potential was there. She has a better understanding of the game than most 10th graders.”

Playing basketball is also in Wright’s blood, Sturkey added. Wright is the first cousin of former Latta High School phenom Rubylee Wright.

And it was Rubylee who first introduced her to the basketball court.

“I didn’t use to be interested in basketball really,” Candance said. “But one day, (Rubylee) took me out to the court and we started playing together. She told me that I could do this, and every since then, I’ve worked hard to achieve my goals.”

Stepping into a starting role on varsity did take some getting used to, though.

“It’s a lot faster than JV,” Candance said. “It took a little while to get used to, but after practicing and playing in games now it’s starting to come a little easier.”
Also helping out the Swamp Foxes’ offense has been returning starters Shaquita Taylor and Geneika Brantley.

Brantley is averaging 14.3 points a game with 8.1 rebounds and Taylor is scoring 12.6 points.

“It feels good to have three players who always wind up in double figures,” Taylor said. “We don’t have to rely on just one person and that makes us tougher to defend.”

Run, run, run

Even with the firepower, Sturkey believes his team’s best asset is its defense.

“Our defense is our best offense,” he said. “We like to run and we like to trap. We’re at our best when we’re creating turnovers and running up the court for the easy transition baskets.”

Because of that, Marion’s players spend a good deal of practice time on conditioning.

“We run a lot,” Taylor said simply.

“A lot,” Candance repeated.

So far, the Swamp Foxes have average 9.8 steals a game and have gotten a good percentage of points off turnovers, Sturkey added.

“I think we can be a good defensive team, we just have to keep working at it,” Sturkey said. “We also have to cut down on our own turnovers (135) if we want to compete in the playoffs.”

No easy road

If the Swamp Foxes make the playoffs again, they’ll enter the postseason as one of the most battle-tested teams out there.

Marion’s non-region schedule included games against Class 3A Darlington, Class A Timmonsville and Class 4A Carolina Forest.

“We knew we had to prepare for our region,” Sturkey said. “I put together a lot of the information for our region (8-2A), so I know how good a lot of these teams are.”

Loris, Aynor, Dillon and Mullins are ranked among the best in the state in various polls, Sturkey said, so there are no easy games.

“We have to start out strong, or we might not be able to recover at the end,” Sturkey said. “But this team has done everything we’ve asked of them, and if they continue to improve, the sky’s the limit.”