Daphne Brown is having a breakout season for Harvest Christian, and it’s been a family affair.
Her father, Austin Brown, has been an assistant the past four years but took over as head coach this season. Her sister, Alyssa Iverson, the Lions’ all-time leading scorer, is now an assistant.
“It’s nice to be able to do something with my family like this, bond with each other,” Daphne said.
Wednesday night wasn’t one of the those signature performances for Harvest Christian as the Lions were shorthanded in a 50-33 nonconference loss at Wheaton Academy in West Chicago.
Paige Nestrick had nine points for Harvest (6-5), which played without leading rebounder Alyssa Burke. Brown, Lilly Johnson, Sophia Johnson and Ellie Semerau added six points apiece.
Katelyn Kulesza led all scorers with 19 points for Wheaton Academy (5-3). Abby Schroeder added 16 points.
Brown, who entered averaging 17.3 points a game, still found ways to contribute even though she didn’t produce offensively. The senior point guard had four assists, three rebounds and a steal.
“I love flashy passes, but I also get my points when I can get them, any way I can help the team out,” said Daphne, whose father played for Dundee-Crown in high school. “I honestly say it’s hereditary.
“My dad is like that. It just kind of came to me like that.”
For her part, however, Iverson would like to see Brown assert herself more often offensively.
“I just want her to focus a little more on letting loose,” Iverson said. “Sometimes, she’s a little bit too much of a true point guard where she wants to find her teammates and look for those little nooks to pass it. She’s got it. She just needs to bring it out.
“I think she needs to show that she can get her shot off, and then when they play her, it makes those passes easy.”
Austin Brown loves the way his daughter attacks the game overall.
“She has great vision,” he said. “She sees the floor, loves to play up-tempo. That’s how we like to play. (Wednesday) though, all the gears weren’t clicking together. It was a lopsided game, but we’re going to bounce back.”
Daphne Brown is happy to have that extra set of eyes on her game, especially coming from her sister, who wound up her college career playing on the Division I level at Liberty.
“She was a good basketball player,” Brown said. “She’s great, so it’s nice to take her advice. She gives me a lot of pointers on how to score better, how to attack the defender better.
“She really keeps my head into it.”
Having the bond with her father also is a huge boost. Austin Brown has been coaching his daughter as either an assistant or head coach since sixth grade. He knows this is the last ride.
“It’s been a blast,” he said. “It’s been a blessing. The past three seasons, we’ve been here together. I’m just taking in every game and I’m just blessed. I’m trying to soak it in.
“I’m not trying to put too much pressure on the girls. I have five seniors and I’m just trying to say, ‘Enjoy it, but you want to go out the way you want to go out.’”
However the season turns out, Daphne Brown is happy to have this time with her father.
“It’s pretty nice to have this connection with him,” she said. “We definitely try to connect on the court. Off the court, we watch film together. It’s nice to have something with him to just bond over.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
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