By: Joanna Chadwick
Thanks to the tough, hard-nosed style that coach Bryan Chadwick brings every time on the court, the Derby girls have continued the winning tradition even after the graduation of Iowa State freshman standout Addy Brown.
The Panthers enter tonight’s sub-state title game with an 18-3 record, splitting a share of the AVCTL I title with Maize South.
Chadwick knew at a young age that he wanted to coach basketball. He started coaching at the youth level, then became an assistant with the Wichita Heights girls, was an assistant for the Heights boys, head coach at Wichita Northwest boys and also coached middle school boys basketball. He merged the Ballerz, his summer program, with the Padres in 2021.
He helped get the Heights girls back to state and then was an assistant for the Heights boys during their four straight state titles, including a 62-0 run.
“What made me start coaching was the love of the game,” Chadwick said. “I was too short and had a broke jumper, but I was fast and played great defense. So I studied the game and started coaching one summer with the Hoop It Up program at the Lynette Woodard Center.”
Derby’s great season isn’t a surprise as the Panthers returned seven seniors from a team that finished third in 6A last year.
The only difference is the unique style of play that the Panthers have adopted under Chadwick.
“My style starts with defense,” Chadwick said. “We press and trap 85% of the time, and because of that, we have up to eight defenses we can play at any given time.”
The focus of Chadwick’s style is to run, run. run. Then when that group gets tired, the next wave is out there.
“We love to run — meaning fastbreak, fastbreak, fastbreak,” he said. “We want to push the ball as much as possible. We want lay-ups because that helps with confidence. We play 10-12 players a night, and we also sub 5 for 5 every four or five minutes.”
Because of the high level of play that the Panthers are at, three of their seniors have already committed to play college basketball. Destiny Smith and Madison Smith have both committed to Butler Community College. Jaden WIlson will join them in the KJCCC as she will be playing at Hutchinson Community College.
Since so many players get quality minutes, the Panthers often have a different leading scorer every game.
One standout for the Panthers is 6-foot-3 sophomore Macayla Askew. The Panthers are notoriously known for their forwards in recent years thanks to the likes of the Brown sisters, Kennedy and Addy, who play at Duke and Iowa State respectively.
Askew is next in line as she leads Derby, averaging 13.9 points per game, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals. The sophomore is a key piece in the way that the Panthers are able to speed up ball handlers using all their defenses, Askew finds herself as the “point” player, as she uses her lanky frame to get deflections, steals and blocks. took
The Panthers’ depth proved to be too much in their first round of sub-state matchup against Lawrence Free State as they dominated from the beginning 71-24.
