Elkhart ELKS
TAYLOR HONEA Sports Writer sports @ palestineherald . com
The Elkhart Elks and Lady Elks both continued to grow in the 2023-24 season , and will both look to compete next year in very competitive districts for a playoff position .
The Lady Elks came close to earning a playoff spot this year , but finished the year with a 14-17 overall record and 5-9 in district play , finishing just outside of playoff positioning as the fifth seed .
The Lady Elk season began strong , winning five of their first seven games , but ran into extremely tough competition later in the season , including district rivals Franklin , Mexia and Fairfield .
The Lady Elks athletics program has been moving in the right direction since the hiring of new Athletics Director Cody Day , and the Elks program will continue to grow under his and Lady Elk Head Coach Dannielle Wady ’ s tutelage .
This season the Elks finished with a record of 10-23 overall , and 0-13 in district play .
The Elks basketball program is much stronger than their record would indicate as injuries plagued the Elkhart season . Elkhart also only fielded seven varsity players on this year ’ s team , making the injuries much more significant .
The Elks will be returning five of their seven varsity players next season including two soon to be seniors in post Trystyn Tidrow and guard Jayden Chapman . When healthy , Tidrow is one of the finest defenders in the paint in all of East Texas and Chapman is one of the best ball handlers in Anderson County .
Elkhart will lose two seniors off of this year ’ s squad in Cagan Abbas and Kason Davis , which will be a blow not only to the talent of Elkhart , but to the depth of their bench , especially when factoring in the playing experience brought by the older Elks .
With another year to learn Coach Darrian Kee ’ s system and going through Coach Day ’ s workout programs , the Elks could be poised for a big year in 2024-25 .
12 SPRING EDITION 2024