DELANSON — There was no sugarcoating the message Brett Simpson wanted to convey to his new Duanesburg boys’ basketball players upon taking over as head coach prior to the start of the 2021-22 season. Simpson went hard and direct.
“When I stepped in front of the team when I was taking over, the first thing I said to them is I don’t want you in this gym unless you want to play defense,” Simpson said. “I told them to put everything aside, everything you have learned, because we’re going to be a defense-first program. Even with last year’s crew, even though the record might not show it, we were very tough defensively. The system we run isn’t something you pick up in a day.”
Duanesburg produced a solid 12-10 campaign last tear that saw the Eagles reach the Section II Class C semifinals. Simpson’s charges have blown past that level this season as the team produced the best record in the Western Athletic Conference and then captured the WAC Cup tournament title by beating Fonda 45-39 at Futon-Montgomery County Community College.
The top-seeded Eagles (20-0), ranked No. 2 in the state in Class C, begin tournament play Friday when they take on No. 9 seed Galway (10-10) at Hudson Valley Community College. Game time is 5 p.m.
“It has been great and really fun,” Duanesburg sophomore standout Jeffrey Mulhern said. “The team is great and we are all really enjoying it.”
The enjoyment Mulhern speaks about is not merely surrounding all the victories. It has a great deal to do with discovering an identity as a program and the team’s leading scorer says it all starts with Simpson.
“Coach Simpson is the key to all of this,” Mulhern said. “He’s turned this program around. He has turned nothing into something. I couldn’t ask for a better coach.”
Duanesburg junior forward Ethan Thompson recalls with great reverence the day Simpson delivered his team…
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