When coaches take on the responsibility of working with student-athletes, they try to instill certain characteristics in their players. Bray-Doyle basketball coach Tim Whaley said he tries to give his players the tools to not only be successful on the court, but also off the court.

“These kids need to know that if they work hard and are coachable good things will happen,” Whaley said. “They are working hard in practice and not giving up and it really shows on and off the court.”

Never giving up and working hard was apparent in the Donkeys’ latest game against Oklahoma School for Deaf, as Bray came away with a 41-39 victory.

“We have certain goals we want to achieve each game,” Whaley said. “To have good shot selection, to have 12 or fewer turnovers, and to win in rebounding the basketball. Against Empire (23-45 loss) we didn’t do any of those very well, but we improved on them against OSD and were successful because of it.”

To remain successful this season Whaley is looking towards his four returning senior starters to provide the leadership the team needs.

Skylar Cash, Curtis Cox, Mark Kilbourn and Justin Miller return to the starting line up for the Donkeys alongside returning senior Josh Hall. The starting five have really set the tempo for the first two games with quick passes and running the floor.

“Curtis and Skylar have really done a good job with scoring for us so far this season,” Whaley said. “Justin is getting rebounds and boxing out really well and that is a big help for us on the offensive end.”

On the opposite end of the court, Whaley said he looks for Kilbourn, Hall and newcomer Billy Parrott to really help stop other teams from scoring.

“Billy and Josh have put in some really solid minutes and are both some really solid defenders,” Whaley said. “Mark is so athletic that we can put him on any team’s best player and he can defend them and get the steals we need to go score on the other end.”

The Donkeys lost size in the center position with the graduation of Chris Anderson, but Whaley is looking toward some new faces and younger players to step up and fill the space.

“Losing Chris is a big loss because he did get a lot of rebounds for us last year,” Whaley said. “However, we still have some good-sized kids that can go in and rebound. Ethan Bandy will fill in and I think eventually do good things, but still needs to learn and grow into that role.”

For the remainder of the season the Donkeys have two important goals to reach by the end of the season.

“We want to have winning season and to advance to the regional tournament and win a game in the Regional tournament,” Whaley said. “We know we will lose some game this season and that’s just basketball. Last year, we made it to Regionals didn’t end how we wanted to. I believe that has motivated these kids to get there again and even further.”