Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Gravette’s Wishon has evolved game
GRAVETTE — DaLacie Wishon was one of two freshmen who moved up to Gravette’s girls basketball team when it played its first game at the new Lions Den in November 2020.
The senior just played her last home game Saturday night during the 4A-1 Conference Tournament, and Gravette (258) now must turn its attention to the Class 4A North Region Tournament. The Lady Lions take on Mena in a first-round game Thursday at Pea Ridge. Wishon, however, isn’t ready to hang up her jersey and shoes.
“It really didn’t hit me until our senior night that I was a senior,” Wishon said. “It’s because I’ve been playing here so long. But we’ve been talking together as a team, and we want to be playing for a lot longer. We still have three more weeks, and we need to be playing a lot longer than other teams so we can make it to the state championship.”
The 6-foot Wishon has seen a number of teammates come and go during her four-year tenure at Gravette, and even she has made changes herself. Even as a freshman, she was Gravette’s tallest player by 3 inches and was asked to provide defensive help in the post, but now she plays more like a guard away from the basket.
There are some things about Wishon that haven’t changed, and that suits Lady Lions Coach William Pittman just fine.
“She’s one of a kind,” Pittman said. “She’s a high-energy kid, a high-motor kid as far as basketball goes, but also off the court as well. She has great enthusiasm, and she’s a fun kid to be around. Her teammates like her, and she’s one that you would take on any team.
“We moved two up that year — DaLacie and Alexa [Parker] — so she got trial by fire early when she was a young kid. I think, down the stretch, that has helped her adjust to the game earlier, which is what you hoped when you move a kid up. She did a great job with it, and each year she has become better and better for us.”
Wishon said the move up was a good experience for her, even though she admits she was “a young 14-year-old” going against older players at the time. She felt she had to prove her spot on the team, and she admitted it was tough on her at times. Now it’s her turn to try to make things tougher on other players, and she does it on the floor. While defense has always been Wishon’s forte, she made it a point to greatly improve her offensive game, and it started from getting farther away from the basket.
“My sophomore and junior years, I slowly started getting better on offense,” Wishon said. “And now, in my senior year, my offense is now my prime and not just my defense. I’ve slowly evolved to getting better on offense, and when my team needs it for offense I have to step up and do it.
“My freshman year, I was strictly in the post, and my post game isn’t very good but I was fine with it. My sophomore and junior years, I’ve slowly started going to guard, and now I can be a fully guard because we have Keeley [Elsea] there. I really like it.”
Wishon presents problems for those trying to defend her. She has the height to post up a small defender and her ball skills can make it hard on a taller player. Her work in the weight room, meanwhile, has allowed to evolve from the “big, gangly athlete” Pittman saw when Wishon joined the team.
She celebrated her 1,000th career point earlier this season.
“She does whatever we ask her to do,” Pittman said. “That’s another great thing about DaLacie. If you ask her to go inside, she’s going to do it. If you ask her to step out, she’ll do it and she does both of us, depending on the matchup.
“She still plays inside for us a lot, but she’s worked hard on her ball-handling and her pullup game. It’s just made her an even bigger threat.”