Terence Jones is looking to usher in a new era of Chapin girls' basketball. 

The newly named head coach has been with the team for a few months and is trying to turn the Eagles into consistent contenders.

“ I want to see our mentality change. I want us to be hungry every game. I don't want us to settle or expect to lose,” Jones said. “I want us to be confident and expect to win a lot of those games that maybe they're accustomed to losing. That's one of the things we're trying to change, the mindset and the preparation.”

Chapin is about midway through its season, and Jones said the team has shown a lot of growth and is on a good track to reach its goals.

“I’ve seen a lot of progress from the summer,” Jones said. “ We've gotten a lot better at understanding the game. We’re getting better at preparing for teams. Just our mental focus has gotten a lot better.”

The Eagles began the week (8-6) overall and are just getting into a grueling region schedule. Chapin will have to face many talented teams down the stretch, including Lexington, Dutch Fork and Irmo. 

Last week, Chapin began conference competition with a road game against the Silver Foxes. The Eagles hung around for three quarters before Dutch Fork expanded its lead and won by 20. 

Despite the loss, Jones has plenty of reasons to be confident in his group. They’ve shown plenty of flashes on both ends of the floor. Now it just comes down to maintaining that play.

“ They’re still learning and understanding the game of basketball instead of just playing it,” Jones said. “You have to learn your reads, get better at our reads and get better defensively rotating and rebounding.”

A lot of those improvements come with time and experience. The Eagles are a mixed group of upper and lower classmen. The team has six seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen on its roster, and age is not a significant factor in playing time. 

Senior Reagan Haggard has been the center of gravity for Chapin the past few seasons. But with the youth on the squad, a lot of that pressure has been lifted off her shoulders. 

Players like freshmen Alaya Fouglas and Amoria Wright have stepped into significant roles this season. They are raw talents whom Jones can see developing into special players one day. 

“[Reagan] is very mature for her age. She's also a very good leader, which is important,” Jones said. “ Some of our younger girls are athletic. They're quicker, so that helps us with defense, which is one of my main emphases.”

Defense has been the Eagles' bread and butter this season. Chapin has held opponents to 40 points or fewer in all eight of its wins this season. On the contrary, in all of its losses, teams have scored more than 40. 

“ Defense is always ahead of offense early on in the season, and I think we are right where we want to be on the defensive side,” Jones said. “We just need to improve a little bit on the offensive side.”

Jones said Chapin plays offense with an inside-out mindset. The Eagles will try to attack the basket and then kick out to open shooters if the easy bucket isn’t there. 

What used to be a one-girl show for Haggard is now a more balanced attack with multiple scoring options. 

“I think now, with developing a lot of our other players on the team, it makes us harder to prepare for, because you can't just prepare for Reagan,” Jones said. “You have to prepare for a few other players also on the offensive end, so I think that just brought more versatility.”

While there are just a few games left this season, Jones is trying to make sure his team finishes strong and earns a favorable spot in the playoffs. But beyond that, he is trying to lay the groundwork for a program that will be successful for years. 

That means looking past what is currently going on with the varsity squad and focusing on the developmental plan as a whole. The Chapin program includes a JV team, which began this week undefeated on the year at (11-0). 

These current JV players will likely one day end up on the varsity squad and it's up to Jones and the rest of the team to get them ready. The program's future success depends on it. 

“ We’ve just got to make sure we work hard for it and continue to put in the work every day at practice,” Jones said. “ Our overall program is headed in the right direction. …  A lot of things that we are doing right now are showing success for now and the future.”