New leaders, same style for Dixon boys basketball

DIXON – Despite 24 wins, last season didn’t end the way Dixon’s boys basketball team wanted. That will fuel the fire for the Dukes this winter, even with quite a bit of turnover on the roster.

Dixon lost six seniors off last year’s team, including three starters and one of its top reserves. But the three leaders who return are ready to take control of their team.

“It feels pretty good [to take the leadership role]. We’ve already dealt with that a little bit with last year’s group, but it just feels natural,” senior forward Darius Harrington said about himself and classmates Eli Davidson and Cullen Shaner. “They’re leaders in other sports, too, and they’ve already been in that situation, so I think it just comes natural. We don’t really have to try and do that, we’ve just kind of been there already.”

Harrington broke the single-season program record with 599 points last season and has 1,033 for his career. The 6-foot-2 forward can take control of a possession and is equally strong shooting from the perimeter or driving to the basket.

Shaner returns as the Dukes’ point guard; he also can fill it up from outside. Davidson was one of the first guys off the bench last season and feels comfortable shooting the ball or taking it to the hoop.

But it will be players such as junior Brady Feit and sophomore Brody Nicklaus who will look to take on bigger roles after spending last season as first-year varsity reserves – and it’s the intangibles that provide the biggest shoes to fill from last year’s senior class.

“I think it’s going to be really important for the new guys to learn their role, but they don’t have to score the ball all the time. It’s the little things last year’s seniors did that we need from them,” Harrington said. “I’ve already talked to a lot of these guys that it’s not about scoring the most points, it’s giving 100% effort out there. If they give that, I honestly don’t care if they score. As long as they put in their hardest effort out there, that’s all I care about.

“And I know a lot of guys can step up and do that. There’s a lot of guys that are wanting to play and are working hard at that right now to get their spot in the rotation.”

Feit is eager to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Bryce, as well as Austin Hicks, Mason Weigle and Alex Harrison, who all graduated last spring. That group played cohesively as a unit and filled all the niches necessary to win games: scoring, rebounding, passing, defense, hustle … you name it, that group did it.

“We just have to be team players and bring energy; that’s going to be the biggest thing for us,” Brady Feit said. “It’s going to be pretty big for us to have that experience with Darius, Cullen and Eli in their senior year. They’ve all played a lot of varsity ball, then you’ve got me and Brody in our second year playing varsity. I think we just feel good about who we’ve got. I’m really excited to step into a bigger role.”

As has been the case in recent years, the Dukes will play an up-tempo, aggressive brand of basketball as they look to overcome their size disadvantage with consistent shooting, stingy defense and a fast-paced transition attack.

“We’re going to be the smallest team in the conference, so we just have to work harder and play bigger, talk on defense and just play strong,” Feit said. “I think we feel real comfortable playing like that, and I think that’s what we’re known for here is just battling and fighting and scrapping all the time.”

Seventh-year head coach Chris Harmann likes what he’s seen from his young team. He’s been around long enough to have established a culture of success through hard work and has seen the team’s new additions following that same work ethic he saw last year.

The key will be the players coming together and learning how to play as a team at the varsity level.

“I think a big piece of it is shooting, and that was the thing with last year’s group; they spent a lot of time in the gym getting shots up. They played very well together, and I think that stuff will trickle in with this group,” Harmann said. “Even some of our young guys that are coming in as freshmen have seen last year’s group play, and it’s pretty similar in style. We’re definitely not where last year’s group was at yet, but we show flashes.

“We have some experience, but a lot of those intangibles that those guys brought last year are hard to replace. So it’ll be interesting to see how quickly these guys can jump in and kind of figure some of that stuff out. Just learning how to win games will be a big thing.”

For the returning players, the memory of last year’s abrupt ending still stings. After finishing the regular season 24-5 – including 8-1 in the Big Northern Conference – the Dukes earned the No. 2 seed in the Class 3A Sterling Regional but lost to eventual champ La Salle-Peru in a semifinal upset.

Harmann believes that hollow feeling will provide the impetus for this year’s seniors to play with urgency all season.

“I think that will motivate these guys coming back,” he said. “They’ve been with the varsity program now for a few years, and you don’t want it to be run of the mill for them, so it’s getting them to understand that it’s their last year – and as it gets going more, I think they’ll realize it more. These guys have some goals and they’re trying to get to a good year. We’ve got to have some guys step up around them too, that’s the biggest thing.”

Harrington agrees that the Dukes definitely want to get that bitter taste out of their mouths, and he knows they’ll all put in the effort to try to surprise some people this season.

He also doesn’t want the same feeling to end his senior season.

“I feel like we’re going to really work hard this year to get something good, because we didn’t get the end result we wanted to [last year],” Harrington said. “I think we’re really motivated to push past last season, put that behind us and worry about this season, because it’s a whole different year, a whole new set of guys. I think we can do some damage.

“I definitely feel that urgency this year; I’m going to treat every game like it’s my last. I’m really hyped for this season, I’m very excited to see what we can do. I have high expectations for us this year.”

Meet the Dukes

Coach: Chris Harmann (7th season)

Last season: 24-6 (8-1 Big Northern Conference)

Returning starters: Darius Harrington, 6-3 sr. F; Cullen Shaner, 6-0 sr. G

Key returners: Eli Davidson, 5-11 sr. G; Brady Feit, 5-8 jr. G; Brody Nicklaus, 5-8 so. G

Key newcomer: Jackson Koehler, 6-0 jr. F

Worth noting: Dixon brings back less than half of its 11-man roster last season, but leading the way is 1,000-point scorer Harrington, who set the program’s single-season record with 599 points last season. Shaner is the other returning starter, and he’ll look to be the floor leader as a point guard with a strong perimeter game. Davidson was one of the first players off the bench last season, and he’ll look to fill a bigger role as a shooting guard with the ability to drive to the basket. Feit and Nicklaus also will have bigger roles for the team this season as the Dukes are looking for their first regional championship since back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.

“Those guys that are coming back will be solid for us, and I’m looking forward to seeing Brody Nicklaus’ progression,” Harmann said. “Brady Feit’s been giving us some good minutes in practice; he plays hard, he’s scrappy, he just really gets after it. We’ve got Eli and Cullen and Darius who can shoot it, so we’re going to be able to space things out a little bit again. Defensively, we’ve got to figure some stuff out. That’s going to be where we’re at early on, but these guys will play hard night in and night out.”