Bowie era begins at Comanche

By Todd Brooks

The Comanche boys basketball team has a new captain at the helm in former Deer Creek assistant Anthony Bowie, who has come to infuse new energy into the program.

The Indians finished 9-15 overall last season. They went 7-5 in their first 12 games, including advancing all the way to the Stephens County Tournament final, but went 2-10 the rest of the way and were eliminated at the regional tournament.

Bowie took over the program during the summer and has been appreciative of the welcome and assistance he has received from the school and the community.

“Everything is going pretty good right now,” Bowie said. “The town has really made me feel welcome. My assistant Heath Ellis has really helped me get into the swing of things and Jack Francis has done a good job taking me around and introducing me to the people in the community. I’m very thankful to be able to come into this town to coach.”

The team opened Tuesday at Amber-Pocasset with a home game slated for this Friday against Chickasha. The girls game will begin at 6:30, followed by the boys at around 8 p.m.

He has been pleased with the way his team has looked and has been working so far.

“Practice has been going really well,” Bowie said. “Theyhave good behavior and guys have shown that they want to get better. I think the buy-in has been there since the early going. They’ve been working hard and trying to do the things I ask.”

The players are having to learn a new system and the coach said it will be a process.

“I want them to play faster and we’re going to play a lot more man-to-man than what they have been,” Bowie said. “We’ll pick up guys at half-court and trap.”

While it may be fast-paced, it won’t be complicated.

“The message has been to simplify everything,” Bowie said. “Things like drive the lane, kick it out to the shooters, make plays and, you know, play basketball.”

The Indians lost three starting seniors off of last year’s squad in Landon Ellis, Jeremy Crisp and Mason Kulbeth but Bowie is looking at it like a fresh start.

“I have lot of guys and I feel confident in playing nine or 10 guys every night,” Bowie said. “The Ellis twins (Myles and Dillon) have worked hard since the pre-season. Briar Blair has been doing some good things and I like the Lassley brothers (Hunter and Brycen). I like Hunter’s size (6-4). Corbin Bowen and Colby Shannon will help us has been playing well. Blayton Cook will be able to knock down some shots. He’s a system guy, but all of them will be out there every night. It might depend on who we are playing and how we match up on who starts that night.”

He said he is getting close to being able to tell identical twins Myles and Dillon apart. He can at least tell them apart by their game.

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there,” Bowie said with a laugh. “Dillon is a lot more a grinder whereas Myles’ game is a little more smoothed out and he’s probably a little more of an outside shooter than Dillon. Dillon though will get in there and do the dirty work