|
Shooting for a winning year
by Gregory R. Norfleet · Sports · November 07, 2007
With at least seven seniors and five juniors — and all five starters — returning for the 2007-08 season, the girls varsity basketball team believes it can achieve a winning season this year.
Head Coach Mike Johnston said the girls also have been keeping sharp by playing on summer club teams.
“Experience should turn us around this year,” Johnston said.
In the past three seasons, the team has improved from 0-22 to 7-15.
Johnston said the team’s strengths include speed as well as experience. He notes that three seniors — Lizzy Tucker, Becca Stoolman and Megan Smith — are playing for their fourth year and that junior Jazmin Baylor is a “fairly decent outside shooter.”
“We totally expect to have a winning season,” Johnston said. “That’s our biggest goal.”
Tucker, who plays post, or forward, agrees.
“I definitely think we can have a winning season,” she said. “We’ve all been playing together for so long and we are tired of getting beat, so we’re ready to step up.”
Smith, who plays wing, believes the team can find strength in familiarity.
“Everybody’s played together now for a while,” she said. “All other schools have lost and we’ve gained. It’s easy for us to sync.”
Not only should this year’s team be more competitive, but it should be older and more mature than its biggest rivals like Regina, West Liberty and Solon.
“We should be deep,” Johnston said, and that includes stamina. “We should be very competitive from the first five to the bottom five ... we should be able to run the whole game.”
Johnston said the seniors’ experience and confidence should spread to the younger players.
“The seniors know they can compete with most of the teams in the conference,” he said. “It’s about putting them away. If we’re experienced, we should be able to make that turn ... In close games, somebody’s going to have to make the play.”
That’s not to say the team has no obstacles.
Johnston notes that the girls need to work on team chemistry and their “ability to take care of the ball.”
“Turnovers have always been a downfall,” he said.
And the team, as a whole, needs to improve its shooting and the timing of those shots.
“We need to shoot when there’s open shots,” he said. “It’s going to hurt us if we can’t shoot the open shot.”
Height is another problem. The team’s tallest player, the coach said, is Tucker, who is 5-10 or 5-11.
“Nobody’s really that tall,” he said, which will mean the Bears need to focus on the press.
“We have to physically wear them out,” he said. “And as long as everybody’s playing well, we can rotate kids in and out.”
Smith said the team needs to “stay determined.”
“During the winter there are a lot of distractions and we need to keep our goals in mind,” she said.
Tucker said the team needs to stay optimistic.
“We need to make sure we all work together and stay positive,” she said.
Smith is.
“We know we can be good,” she said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
