L.C. Bird basketball is used to success, but Troy Manns has furthered that success more than some have imagined during his time at the school.
With a 73-39 victory over Cosby Jan.+ 11, he reached a personal milestone of 200 victories at Bird, at the time trailing the legendary Chuck Tester by 13 wins for the all-time lead in the boys’ program.
“It’s a humbling accomplishment that I know I wouldn’t be able to [reach]without my outstanding coaching staff, supportive administration, and a great group of student athletes,” Manns said.
“I had no idea about reaching 200 wins so it was a cool surprise when they announced it after our Cosby game,” continued Manns. Besides a tough defense and an unselfish, balanced style of offensive play, Manns and the Skyhawks have gotten a big boost from 6-6 swingman Jaden Daughtry, who transferred to L.C. Bird from Benedictine.
“He’s a fantastic young man. He wants to win, period. He works hard and is extremely productive,” Manns said. “He just fits what we do and possesses a lot of the same characteristics of our previous players who have been successful at L.C. Bird.”
Even with a close loss (65-61) to a much improved Manchester program, 65-61, usual for L.C. Bird, and that business is thumping opposing teams. The Skyhawks have defeated their opponents by an average margin of 25.2 points per game. “It’s been a lot of fun coaching this group of kids. They have a lot of team camaraderie and they are all unselfish and only want to win. We took our lumps last year being so young but it was worth it because the kids have matured and improved so much.”
The core, includes seniors Promyse Ferguson and Kris Trinidad, along with still developing stars like junior Brycen Blaine and sophomore Yuri Manns just might have what it takes to make a long playoff run next month.
