A senior season with state in mind

Two basketball seasons ago, the Morrilton Devil Dogs finished 18-11 overall, advancing to the 5A State Tournament, where the Devil Dogs made it to the quarterfinals and were down by one point to Wynne with less than 15 seconds to play. But Wynne hit two free throws with seconds left in the game to seal the 53-50 win. (Wynne later lost in the state finals to Little Rock McClellan.)

That Morrilton team lost all five starters and 11 seniors overall to graduation following the 2009-10 season, including about 90 percent of its scoring, so last season was a rebuilding year. The team finished 11-15 under head coach Trent Tipton, stumbling early but gradually improving as the season wore on, with then junior Tyrone “Ty” Willis leading the way, averaging 14 points per game and 5 rebounds per game.

Entering the 2011-12 season, the Devil Dogs return all five starters, and Willis, now a 5-foot-11-inch, 145-pound senior, will once again lead the Devil Dogs.

“He’s not an extremely big kid, and he’s not freakishly athletic; he’s just very crafty and very skilled and shoots really well,” Tipton said. “He can handle it and put it on the floor pretty good. He can shoot around the basket. … He can hit the 3-point shot, and he can also pull up and shoot a 10- or 15-footer. He’s difficult to guard because he can do all three things so well.”

Willis, who plays shooting guard for the Devil Dogs, is expected to be one of the team’s leaders — a role he sees as both a scorer and as a team player.

“I like to play team ball,” Willis said. “I don’t like for it to be a one-on-one game. I try to be a leader for the team.”

Willis said his defense could use improvement, and becoming a bigger player will only improve his defensive skills, Tipton said.

“He definitely needs to become stronger, and he has worked in the weight room,” Tipton said. “He can take contact, but he would benefit much more from being stronger. He gets knocked around a little bit. We’re hoping as a senior that he can handle contact better. His physical strength needs to get better.”

With the Devil Dogs’ starting lineup returning for this season, Tipton, in his 13th year, said the goal is pretty clear for Morrilton.

“In our league and every year, we want to try to get to the top four of the conference so we can make the state tournament,” he said. “It has been proven year-in, year-out that if you get to the state tournament out of our league that you have a chance to win games, and you never can tell what will happen once you get in it. That’s always our outlook: Qualify for the state tournament.”

Whether the Morrilton Devil Dogs return to the state tournament depends on the play of the team’s bench and its five returning starters, including Willis, whom Tipton expects to continue leading the Devil Dogs on the court.

“[Willis] was by far our first option last year as a junior,” Tipton said. “We went from a team that had a lot of experience his sophomore year to a team with no experience his junior year. We took our lumps last year and got better and improved, but it took a lot longer than I expected it to, though. This year the attitude is so much different than last year because we have so much experience coming back this year.

“I hope [Willis] has a good year.”

And Willis, who is undecided on where or if he might play basketball in college, has one clear goal for his senior season.

“Just with everyone coming back, we want to win more games,” he said. “We want to make it to the state tournament. I think [last year’s experience] helps out a lot because everybody knows their roles for us to be a better team. I just want to help my team make it to the state tournament and be a good leader for them.”

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