All the pieces are in place

Jeff Harrison
The Edmond Sun

November 23, 2007 01:59 pm

— The season has not yet begun, but the Deer Creek boys have all the motivation they’ll need.
Last year came to a premature end for the Antlers, who were one win away from the state tournament.
“We’re real excited about this season and want to finish this thing off right, we felt like we came up short last year,” Deer Creek head coach David Crynes said.
This year Deer Creek has all the tools needed to make a deep run through the playoffs and into the state tournament. They have a strong group of seniors that is anxious for the season to get underway.
“I think we got so far, we’ve never been in that atmosphere and that prepared us for this year and what we need to get done,” Senior Jordan Lundeen said.
Seniors Josh Phillips, Baylor Thomas and Kyle Ferguson will man the backcourt. Phillips is the teams’ top returning scorer and potent outside shooter. Last season he shot 33 percent from 3-point range and scored 12.2 points a game. Thomas has some big shoes to fill at the point, replacing Justin Hall, who is a walk-on at Abilene Christian University (Texas).
Lundeen is the team’s top threat in the post and on the perimeter. The 6-foot-5 senior averaged 10.8 points 4.8 rebounds a game.
“He’ll be one of the best big men in 5A,” Crynes said.
Crynes has no doubt his team has the talent to succeed, but he says their season will depend on their character.
“These guys can put the ball in the basket, it’s going to be can we fight through adversity,” he said.
The Antlers should have a strong and balanced offense this season. They have solid outside shooting and the size to score in the paint, with big men Lundeen, Chase Almen (6-9) and Zach Trujillo (6-6).
“Teams are going to have a hard time trying to decide how to stop us, if they concentrate on the inside then we’ve got great shooters that can fill it up from beyond the three-point line,” Crynes said.
Defensively the Antlers want to bring multiple looks.
“We’ll get after it and mix it up, you can’t categorize us as an all man or all zone team,” Crynes said.
This will be Deer Creek’s first season in the 5A Suburban Conference. The Antlers will have a tough schedule filled with talented teams such as defending state champion Carl Albert, Shawnee and Guthrie.
“I’m excited for the new conference, for three years we’ve been playing the same teams,” Phillips said.
The Antlers are also anticipating the Walter Wong Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. The national tournament takes place after Christmas on Dec. 27-29.
Deer Creek kicks off their season Nov. 30 on the road against Shawnee.