When a burst pipe flooded Democracy Prep’s gymnasium late last year, the Blue Knights lost their home court just as they were moving up to Class 5A. Instead of folding, the team leaned on a community that has repeatedly rallied around them.
“I know that we’re going to come out of this and we’re going to come out of it better,” head coach Cory Duke said. “Any adversity that we’ve dealt with since we got here, we’ve always found a way to figure it out and we’ve done that together.”
Democracy Prep (14-12) enters the 5A state semifinals as the No. 5 seed after a 61-59 road win at No. 4 Desert Pines on Thursday. The Blue Knights face top-seeded Liberty at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Valley High.
Duke learned of the flood around 1 p.m. on a Sunday after church. By Monday, the court had begun to lift off its foundation. The K-12 charter school, which houses roughly 300 high school students, suddenly had no gym for games or practices.
Doolittle Community Center, across the street, stepped in to host home games and most practices. Athletic director Danai Young said the NIAA approved the facility after checking the shot clock and seating. “That has been a blessing,” Young said. “They didn’t blink. ‘Yes, whatever you need from us, we’ll do.'”
The Blue Knights started 0-3 in league play but have won four of their last five — five of six counting the playoff win. Senior guard Mario Allen, a three-year varsity player, said: “We just stuck together. If we had to play away games all year or we had Doolittle — it was out of our control. We couldn’t change anything that happened. We just had to move forward with it and just stay together.”
This season’s adversity follows a pattern. Duke was hired in 2020 but the high school season was canceled due to COVID-19. The next year, the Blue Knights reached the 2A state semifinals. In September 2022, assistant coach Mark Coleman revealed he had Stage 4 prostate cancer. He died on Feb. 4, 2023. Democracy Prep went on to win the 2A title that season, beating reigning champion The Meadows after losing to them three times.
“We had to be even closer during the hard times,” said Tai Coleman, a four-year varsity player and Mark’s son. “We felt like if we had each other’s backs, nobody could stop us.”
The following year, the school announced it would close its high school, only to receive additional funding and keep it open. Democracy Prep then won the 3A title in dramatic fashion over Mater East. “That’s kind of how we’ve attacked everything since Coach Mark,” Duke said. “There’s nothing that can happen to us that we haven’t dealt with and that we can’t get through and not only get through, but be successful through adversity.”
This season, the team integrated several transfers. They spent nine days over winter break on a road trip that took them from Palm Springs to Phoenix, playing in tournaments and bonding. The van carried all 12 varsity players plus Duke’s family. They went 1-4 at the Palm Springs Classic but won the Saguaro Division bracket in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona, beating Canyon (California) 74-65. “It was brutal in all the right ways,” Duke said. “Wouldn’t change it for the world, may not do it that way every year, but it prepared us.”
Despite the obstacles, the team has maintained its identity. “We grew a brothership,” said junior Ien Kirkland. “We grew closer together every single day and that helped us through all the hard times. We started off coming to this team as a whole bunch of individuals, but at the end of the day, we became brothers.”
The Blue Knights are used to being underdogs. “Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve always been the underdog,” Allen said. “It’s nothing new to us and I enjoy having that underdog role because I feel a lot of teams may underestimate us. We have something to prove every single night.”
