He’s back

There is lots of buzz surrounding the Ben Davis Lady Giants heading into the new season. The return of head coach Stan Benge has lots of BD basketball fans fired up. Coach Benge won 519 games in his original 26 year tenure with the school, including four state championships and a national title. 

After spending the past seven years as Roncalli’s head coach, Stan Benge has returned to lead the Lady Giants.

“I love being back at Ben Davis,” Benge said.

With a new coach comes a change in style.

“We are a fast paced, in your face, defensive team,” said senior Maya Turner, who had her junior year cut short due to injury. Turner got injured just weeks before the state tournament where the Lady Giants fell 38-31 against the eventual state champs, Lawrence North. “It was really hard having to sit out towards the end of the season, but I was happy to see my other teammates doing the best that they could in the last couple of games.”

Turner is ready to take on a senior leadership role for the Lady Giants.

“I believe that you’re only as good as your weakest teammate, so me and the other seniors on the team try our best to push everyone on the team to play as hard as they can in practices and in games,” she said.

Early on, the Lady Giants will need to reestablish their offensive identity due to the departure of Indiana All-Star Khera Goss. Goss averaged 15.5 points per game for Ben Davis a season ago.

“She’s gone so now everybody has to score,” said senior guard Micah Jett. 

 

Benge believes that the beginning of the season will be a learning experience for his squad, saying, “we’ve got to understand and make good decisions on what’s a good shot and what’s not a good shot.”

The Giants begin their season in the Center Grove Shootout on Saturday with a game against Fishers at 10:00 a.m. and a matchup versus Hamilton Southeastern at 6:00 p.m.

Along with the pressure defense and fast-paced mindset that the team is inheriting, fans can also be enthused by BD’s depth. “We’re going to be playing a lot of players,” said Coach Benge. “They’re all competitors.”

 

Although the Lady Giants have a young roster, this is a team that still returns plenty of varsity experience. Physical defense and a balanced scoring attack are to be expected from this team throughout the season. BD comes into the year unranked and facing three top-15 teams off the bat. But with the return of a Hall of Fame coach, the Lady Giants should find themselves near the top of the state sooner rather than later.