SLHS Coach Duggan Reflects on Season's End

Going into Tuesday's Liberty District Tournament quarterfinals, the No. 3 Seahawks seemed to have the edge over their sixth-seeded opponent, Thomas Jefferson.

The Seahawks (15-7, 10-4 Liberty) swept the Colonials in regular-season play. They had lost only four conference games. TJ (8-15, 3-11), meanwhile, had won only three. The Seahawks were wrapping up a season in which they had a seven-game win streak - one of the longest in the region - and were playing on their home court.

Things did not go the Seahawks' way from the start. The Colonials sped out to a 10-0 lead, and South Lakes never regained the kind of momentum they needed and lost 66-62.

"We were down one to end the second quarter," said South Lakes coach Andrew Duggan. "But they shot the ball really well, and played well defensively too. They played better than us. Jefferson played like a top-10 team."

"I told the team 'this is going to sting,' " said Duggan. "Heck, it is going to hurt a lot."

So ended the postseason for the Seahawks, who will lose eight seniors. Coach Duggan, who is wrapping up has second year at South Lakes, says he likes what those players have accomplished.

"The seniors have really left a mark on the program," said Duggan. "They have revivied the stature of basketball at South Lakes. We have returned to being one of the better programs."

Four starters are graduating - J.D. Wallace, Mitch Dempster, Jordan Francis and D.J. Christian. Junior Ebbot, a junior, will be the lone senior next season, but Duggan says he likes what he sees in a corps of younger players, including several moving up from the junior varsity.