Thursday, November 30, 2006

Girls' action on the hardwoods has started

by Kenneth Lassiter

Five returning coaches and one new one are hoping they have the ingredients for success on the court this season as the six county high school girls basketball teams swing into action this week.

With the departure of Todd Ferguson at Jefferson West, Mark Armstrong of Perry-Lecompton takes over as the longest tenured county girls’ coach in only his third year. The coaches at Oskaloosa, Jefferson County North, Valley Falls and McLouth all return for their second year while West has promoted assistant Dan Hypse to head coach.

All six schools tipped off their 2006-07 campaigns last week.

The 2005-06 season was a winning one for only one county girls’ program as Oskaloosa finished 13-10. Valley Falls came in next at 10-12 followed by Jefferson West at 9-12, Perry-Lecompton at 7-14, JCN at 4-18 and McLouth at 3-18.

Following is a capsule review of each team entering the season in order of last season’s record.

Oskaloosa
Coach: LeeAnn Tufte, sccond year
Last season: 13-10

Tufte’s first year as head coach saw the Bears flip a 10-13 2004-05 record into a 13-10 record last season, but she heads into this season without the core of seniors that paced that team.

Despite the losses to graduation, Tufte’s squad of 25 includes eight seniors and a moderate amount of returning varsity experience. The main returnees are senior post player Kayla Newell, sophomore guard Nicole Rockhold and senior guard Lindsey Ottensmeier along with senior guards Emily Heston and Carol Allen.

“We had a majority of our production in our senior class so we’ll be needing somebody to step up on offense,” Tufte said. “We’ll be smaller in the post area but hopefully we can make up for that in quickness.”

Tufte said senior guards Emma Sorenson and Beth Bellinger along with senior forwards Ali Houk and Jordan Barbo would also be part of the varsity mix this season as she hopes to continue a focus on defensive pressure and its transition to offensive scores. A handful of close losses last season has also led Tufte to stress free-throw shooting with this year’s crew.

“We’re focusing primarily on defense. Until we get some sort of real offensive threat to emerge who can hit that three-point shot or outside two-pointer or can take over in the post, that’s what we have to deal with,” Tufte said. “We’ll see where we are in the first few games and see who steps up.”

Tufte said chemistry is a strength in this year’s Bears squad as she hopes to compete in what could be an open DVL.

“Chemistry to me is the heart of this team,” she said. “They play together and focus really well. I’m looking for Pleasant Ridge and Doniphan West to be the big guns but the league is getting more spread out. The tournament next week will be a quick indicator of where we are and what we can do inside. This is really a great group of players.”

Valley Falls
Coach: Todd Gish, second year
Last season: 10-12

Gish got a roller-coaster introduction to the girls’ side of the game last season after guiding the Dragon boys’ teams in past seasons. What was at times a hopeful season and other times a frustrating one ended with a first-round substate loss, and Gish is hoping this year’s team can ride a group of experienced seniors to better outcomes.

Gish has four seniors on a team of 23 after losing six seniors from last year’s team. Graduation cost the team a good deal of experience but the cupboard isn’t empty at Valley Falls. Senior guard Katie Brevitz, senior forwards Kari Robinson and Katie Siegrist and junior post player Rebekah Bunde will be looked to by Gish to step up their game on offense and keep pace with last season’s defensive effort. The loss of Brevitz to a broken finger late last season has Gish hoping this year is better in terms of health on the Dragons.

“We were close to 9-7 when we lost Katie and then finished how we did so she helps a lot on offense,” Gish said. “We’ve got pretty much the same philosophy on what we’re trying to do. We’ve spent an inordinate amount of time on offense in practice. We had a highlight film last season and it was one defensive play after another but then it would cut to the next play right before we took our shot, so that said a lot about last season. We’ve shown what we can do defensively but we need to be able to score, too.”

Gish said senior post player Emily Sperry, junior forward Ashley Morrow, junior guard and forward Stephanie Heinen and junior guard Kelsey Jennings will also be in the varsity rotation. He said he, too, expects a couple front runners in the DVL this season but sees a fairly level talent distribution after that in the league.

“I’m not sure what to think about the league going into the season,” Gish said. “You’ve got Pleasant Ridge and Doniphan West, which will be good, but then after that it’s hard to say. If we can do what we did last season defensively and score six or seven more points a game, I think we’ll be a pretty solid team. We might not play as much man-to-man because of our depth but our chemistry is really good. The girls are getting along well and playing hard for each other.”

Jefferson West
Coach: Dan Hypse, first year
Last season: 9-12

The Tigers endured a losing season in their last campaign but new head coach Hypse hopes to turn the varsity experience of a young team into a better season starting this week.

Injuries are already an issue for the Tigers as last season’s freshman standout, now sophomore forward Katie Bigham, missed the volleyball season after knee surgery and is still recuperating. Senior guard Becca Rodecap is also recovering from an injury so won’t be 100 percent entering play Friday. Hypse has 23 girls out for the team this year with only three seniors. Four starters return, including Rodecap and Bigham along with senior forward Ally Scott and junior forward Marcia Beecham.

“With Becca and Katie both injured and working their way back, it’ll give some of the other girls an opportunity to step up,” said Hypse, who has also coached freshman boys for West and may be better known to Tiger fans as the baseball coach. “We’re lucky in that we have some kids who can fill in who have experience.”

Other cogs to the West varsity this season will include junior post player Nichelle Palmateer, sophomore guards Hayley Hypse and Audrey Mullins, junior forward Kyane Stortzum, senior post player Tracy Naumann and junior guard and forward Brianna Ploude.

Hypse knows the going is never easy in the Big Seven League and said while the early season may run into some bumps in the road he hopes down the stretch into substate the team has become what he thinks it can be.

“It’s had its frustrating times putting in a new system,” he said. “I want to try to play well at the perimeter and play up-tempo, man-to-man defense. The girls are working hard and that’s all I can ask for. We just want to get better each day and hopefully by the end of the season we’re looking good. This has been a good group of girls to get started with.”

Perry-Lecompton
Coach: Mark Armstrong, third year
Last season: 7-14

The Kaws saw improvement for the second straight year under Armstrong in 2005-06 and a solid group of returnees may forewarn of better things to come for the Kaws as they open play in a new gym thanks to a district building project.

Armstrong has 27 girls out for the squad this year led by four seniors and only three juniors, so youth is a strength for the program this season. Returning starters include senior guards Ashley Turpin and Maggie McPherson as well as senior post player Laura Smith. Other key returnees include junior post player Katie Davis, junior guard Holly Fornelli, junior guard and forward Jamie Fuller, sophomore forward and last year’s freshman standout, Ashleigh Allam, sophomore guard LeeAnne Pringle and sophomore forward Emily Huerter.

“We’ve got eight or nine girls I think can really contribute,” Armstrong said. “The girls weren’t really happy with last season and I felt we let about a half-dozen games slip through our fingers, which makes a big difference in the final record.”

The Kaw Valley League is always a challenge in terms of competition but Armstrong said he hopes the new gymnasium will help his team get a fresh mindset entering play Friday night. The first home game is Monday against Jefferson West.

“We’re already starting to figure out our depth chart,” Armstrong said. “I’m very optimistic about the team this season. I like what we’ve done in practice so far. We’ve got quickness and some girls who can shoot the ball. We hope to get out and run a little more than we have. The big thing for us will be rebounding. In the KVL we run into some six-footers and we don’t have a lot of size so we’ll need to focus on that area. ”

Jefferson County North
Coach: Steve Noll, second year
Last season: 4-18

The Chargers took a small step back last season in terms of record but the stage is set for brighter days for JCN with some young players returning with varsity experience.

Noll has two seniors on a team of 22 players and, beside four occasional varsity starters who return, returns three sophomores who saw some starting time last season. Noll is looking for senior leadership from guard and forward Lisa Lyon and post player Tara Hammerschmidt while juniors Kelsey Schuler, a guard, and post player Jackie Schrick, will also be looked to for varsity contributions. Sophomores Christina Kirby, a forward, and guards Amelia Noll and Lisa Weishaar got a crash course in varsity play as freshmen last season and will be counted on for bigger roles on this year’s squad.

“We have quite a few girls back who started last season at one time or another,” Noll said. “We’ll still be awful young, though. We’ve got a core of players I hope can give us quality minutes and hopefully we’ll be able to get a couple other young players some minutes, too.”

Noll said junior Jessica Kearney and sophomore Devin Gigstad will also be part of the varsity rotation. He said confidence will be the key to the Chargers’ fortunes this season.

“We need the girls to be a little more confident. I think they were reluctant at times to shoot last season to instead let the seniors to the scoring,” Noll said. “We’ll miss those seniors but it may help if it forces someone else to step up and fill the void. I’m looking for not just one or two players to do that but four or maybe five.”

Noll pointed to Doniphan West and Kansas City Christian as the teams to beat in the DVL along with a few other solid teams. He said he has liked what he’s seen at practice thus far but knows his team has some work to do as the season gets into full swing.

“The girls have been focused at practice, so that’s good. I think they’re anxious, though, to actually get into games and see where we’re at,” he said. “You’ve got teams like D-West and KCC at the top of the league and then teams like Oskaloosa, Pleasant Ridge and Wathena who should be tough but after that it’s pretty even, I think.

“We may not have gotten the wins last season but I think we got a good foundation set in what we want to do with the program. We’re a stronger team physically this season and our fundamentals have been better because we had more girls lifting and playing ball in the off-season, so hopefully that translates into good things. I know we’ve pushed them harder than in the past so we’ll be in better shape. I think the problems that were glaring last year have been addressed. Now we just need to get out and play to see where we are and what we need to work on.”

McLouth
Coach: Keith Miller, second year
Last season: 3-18

A 3-18 record isn’t something that usually shows an improvement but Miller’s mark in his first year as head girls’ coach last season tripled the team’s wins from the prior season and has helped instill some hope for improvement this season.

Miller enters the season with only 19 players but that squad includes only two seniors along with some underclassmen who saw significant varsity time in the 2005-06 campaign. Seniors Rachael Thompson, a guard, and Megan Howerton, a guard and forward, will form the core of the team along with junior forward Abby Annis, junior guard Samantha Farris, junior post player Leah Hoffhines and junior guard Lizzy Chapa.

“We’re more athletic this year,” said Miller, who is also hoping to reap the benefits of an offseason weight lifting and conditioning program. “These girls have been successful at the middle school level so hopefully they can carry that over. Leah is recovering from an injury so she’s not 100 percent yet.”

Miller also named sophomore guard Gelia Gardner and sophomore post player Haley Holwick as part of the varsity rotation and said a mix of nine freshmen would likely fill out the bench as he hopes to gain some more varsity experience and take advantage of the team’s youth.

“We’re awful inexperienced in some areas,” Miller said. “We’ll play a lot of different faces and we’re shorter than we were last season so we’ll need to get out and run a little bit more.”

Miller said the changes from last season’s squad have had their advantages and drawbacks but he is already noting improvement in the team that enters this season.

“We’re quicker this year overall,” Miller said. He pointed to KCC, Doniphan West, Horton and Pleasant Ridge as the teams to beat in the DVL. “Looking at where the team is now, we’re already where we were at the end of last season in terms of being in shape and ready to play. We had 10 or 12 girls that were pretty faithful in the weight room over the off-season so we’ve been stressing that. The girls are working hard.”