Epps has Doniphan girls rolling yet again

The Doniphan High School girl’s basketball squad has learned a lot over the four-plus seasons that Adam Epps has been leading it.

The Donettes have learned how to handle tough tests on the court, and Epps has instructed his players on how to close out games successfully.

“Doniphan is so good at winning and finishing off games,” Dexter coach Eric Sitze said recently after falling 40-36 to Doniphan in Dexter.

Those two traits have been prevalent since Epps returned to Doniphan after spending six years as the varsity boy’s coach at Van Buren.

The Poplar Bluff native spent three seasons as a boy’s assistant at Doniphan before leaving for Van Buren, and he felt he had mixed results with the Bulldogs.

“I was 25 (years old) in my first head coaching job,” Epps recalled, “and I don’t think that I was ready for it.”

That is debatable.

In his first season at Van Buren, Epps helped the program improve from nine to 12 wins, and in five of the six seasons that he led the program, Van Buren won at least 11 games.

“I don’t think anybody ever is ready,” Epps continued in speaking of his first head coaching gig.

He is certainly “ready” to lead a basketball program now.

In his first four-plus seasons in leading Doniphan girls, Epps has won 101 games and a pair of MSHSAA District championships.

“I love it at Doniphan,” Epps said. “They eat up basketball.”

That has shown not only in previous seasons but this year, as well.

The Donettes (16-1) are ranked No. 7 in Class 4 and survived a road challenge at Dexter on Monday and have another difficult assignment on Monday against Jackson (11-4) at 7:30 p.m. in Doniphan.

“These girls are going to work,” Epps said. “They work so stinking hard.”

Not only has the recent past been phenomenal within Doniphan’s program, but the future is pretty bright, as well.

Of the eight players that Epps utilized against Dexter, five will return next season, including two starters in 6-foot-1 Kenzie Redus and 6-foot Sarah Owen.

“This is kind of a well-rounded group,” Epps said. “Doniphan is a good place to be right now for girl’s basketball.”

The Donettes have only lost 26 games over the past four-plus seasons, and Monday’s game very well could be a preview of the top two teams in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 tournament, which is filled with talented, successful programs this winter.

“These girls work harder than some of the teams in the past,” Epps said. “When things are going bad, they never give in. There were opportunities (against Dexter) where we turned it over, but somebody stepped up and made a play.

“That says a lot about our group. I’m really proud of them.”