Concord Lady Spiders hope to live up to tradition

Deep inside the Concord girls’ basketball team room lays a plastic container decorated to look like a treasure chest. While it may not look like much to the outsider, to the Spider coaches and players, it means everything.

There were 125 coins inside the chest, one for each win since the 2007-08 state championship season (through Jan. 11’s win against Mount Pleasant). Each coin has the opposing team’s name on the front and the year on the back.

While the chest has been filled with many wins since that state title, victory coins have been harder to come by this season for a young Spider team.

“That chest means a lot to all of us,” said forward Mandasia Parks, the team’s only senior. “When we got our first win this year – over Butler – I was the first person to put the coin in there. I cried because it means a lot to be a Lady Spider. It means a lot to be a part of the Concord basketball tradition.”

Concord coach Angela Morton, the constant in Concord’s success over the last decade, knows all about the traditions; she helped create them.

“When I got here 10 years go, we went 0-24 in my first year and had five freshmen on the varsity,” she said. “Then we built things up and had a lot of great players – and great teams – with a lot of experience. This season, we have six freshmen on the varsity, and it’s been up and down. But I think these girls grew up around Concord basketball, and they understand about the tradition here. I think we’re going in the right direction.”

After a 1-6 start, the Spiders (6-7, 3-2 in South Piedmont Conference play going into Jan. 18’s game against Hickory Ridge) have looked like a new team since the holiday break, winning five of their next six games.

Concord made a run to the CMC Northeast Holiday Classic championship game; they lost to Weddington and had critical wins against SPC foes Central Cabarrus, Cox Mill and Mount Pleasant.

“I think sometimes coaching a young team that is trying to improve can be just as fun as coaching a championship-type team,” Morton said. “To see the improvements we have made day-to-day in practice is very rewarding. I’m really excited about the second half of our season.”

The Spiders have an eight-girl rotation that includes one senior, one junior, three sophomores and three freshmen.

Concord’s backcourt has been its strength with sophomore point guard Nakiah Black – an All-SPC pick as a freshman – leading the team in both scoring (11 points per game) and assists (3.5 per game).

Black has a lot of help in the backcourt from sophomore Danica Ford (9.5 points per game) on one wing and junior Destiny Floyd (seven per game), the team’s defensive stopper, on the other. Add freshmen guards Jamya Patton and Kat Craver off the bench, and the Spiders have a group capable of running at the fast-tempo pace that defines Concord basketball.

While the Spiders are solid on the perimeter, their interior players are working to gain experience. Sophomore forward Hannah Lewis and freshman post Jada Black start while Parks comes off the bench as a spark.

Jada Black, Nakiah’s first cousin, gives her team a keen sense of what Morton and Concord basketball tradition is all about.

With a trip to Northwest Cabarrus scheduled for Jan. 25, the Spiders have something to prove. The Trojans beat Concord in their first meeting for the first time in six years. That was also first conference-opener loss in eight years. That prompted Morton to take away the Concord tradition of “walking the balcony” away for a short time.

When Morton allowed the girls to walk down the bleachers to reach the floor, her Spiders responded.

“We took that Northwest Cabarrus loss very hard,” said Floyd. “I think it made a lot of us realize we really had step it up.”

Morton likes the progress her team has made.

“I tell my team all the time that success is a journey not a destination,” Morton said. “Every year, I try to appreciate the journey and help my team play up to its potential. I think this team starting to believe that they can win.”