Published: November 06, 2009 10:32 pm      

Girls’ basketball teams set for new season

Plainfield has a huge hole to fill near the basket.

That’s where 6-foot-1 graduated senior Rachel Turk excelled last year, leading the team to a 19-2 record with 14.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game.

Her inside presence will be missed.

“I don’t know that there’s any one person who can step up and do what Rachel Turk did,” Plainfield coach Curt Benge said. “Certain people have to pick up points and others will have to pick up the rebounds. We’ll see how we’ll function without her.”

Despite the loss of Turk — their lone senior from a year ago — the Quakers will feature an experienced core in 2009. Five players from last year’s squad averaged more than seven points per game, and four return.

Junior Julia Henson (13.4 ppg, 2.4 apg) looks to again be a three-point threat, but Benge said she has also improved in other areas.

“I don’t know that her shot can improve that much, she’s already a pretty good shooter,” Benge said. “But she’s really worked on various aspects of the game to try to make herself more versatile.”

Other key returners include seniors Samantha Smith (7.2 ppg) and Jamie Lydick, junior Sarah Janssen (9.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), and sophomore Kasey Johnson (7.2 ppg, 3.0 apg).

“It means a lot,” Benge said of his team’s experience. “Having a lot of returning players that were together over the summer means you don’t have to build from scratch. I think it matters especially early in the season.”

Last year, Plainfield (19-2) earned a Class 4A No. 5 ranking, won county, and took a Mid-State Conference title before falling to Mooresville in the sectional title game.

Benge wants to again compete in those areas, and also wants his team to perform well in the Hall of Fame Classic, a midseason tournament at New Castle High School.

“You always want to win,” Benge said. “But we tend to focus our goals on quantitative things that we can measure. Every team wants to win county and conference, but there’s some strong competition out there.”



Avon

Avon coach Steve Drabyn has a simple goal for his Orioles this season.

“Score more points,” he said.

Last season, the Orioles (10-13) were solid defensively — led by senior Katie Griffin with 7.5 blocks per game — but had difficulty putting points on the board. Their season ended with a 29-20 loss to Decatur Central in the sectional semifinal.

“We kind of hung our hat last year on playing great defense,” Drabyn said. “But this year we’re looking to score a lot more.”

Avon will be without two key graduated seniors — Griffin (7.6 ppg, 10.2 rpg) and leading scorer Melissa Eades (9.3 ppg). Griffin finished her career as the all-time leader in the state with 568 career blocks.

Plenty of experienced players will help fill that void.

Three starters from a year ago return — juniors Haley Austin (6.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and Jackie Kurbursky, and sophomore Jill Steinmetz (5.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg). Senior Erin Wojan was used off the bench last season.

“It’s going to have to be a group effort,” Drabyn said. “We’re going to need a lot more people to block out and get rebounds, and we’ll have to spread the wealth a little bit for scoring.”

The Orioles are also getting healthy.

Seniors Maggie Snyder, Kalee Gerig, and Kiersten McKinney missed significant time last season due to injuries, but all are expected to be ready for 2009.

Former JV players Dominique Small, Breanne Lahart, and Alex Van Wanzeele will make the jump to varsity.

Drabyn is looking for Avon to compete in the county, Hoosier Crossroads Conference, and sectional, but knows the Orioles’ schedule features tough competition.

“We have some great teams in our county, conference, and sectional,” Drabyn said. “We still play Ben Davis, and we have Plainfield and Mooresville, who will be tough.”



Tri-West

The Bruins came within a point of their first sectional championship since 1999 last season, falling to Covenant Christian 57-56 in overtime.

The game ended on a controversial call, and while head coach Brad Acton has put the incident behind him, he doesn’t want his team to completely forget what happened.

“It’s one of those things you have to move on from, but hopefully you learn from it,” Acton said. “At the same time you don’t want the ones who played in that game to completely forget.”

Despite the loss the Bruins posted a 15-8 record and won six of their final seven games heading into the sectional championship.

Tri-West will have to replace several impact players from last season’s team, including graduated senior Jessie Jansen who averaged 14.8 points and 6.6 rebounds.

The Bruins will look to senior Sam Ricks to lead the way. She led the team in scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounding (5.2 rpg), and assists (3.0 apg) last season.

“She’s one of those players that seems like she’s been around forever, she’s a four-year starter for us” Acton said. “This year, she’ll probably play the point a little bit for us.”

Four other seniors will rejoin Ricks on the team — Megan Bennett (7.6 ppg, 2.8 spg), Casie Jobe (3.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg), Chelsea Harris (2.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg), and Taylor Edens (1.3 ppg).

“We’ve got three starters back and quite a few seniors so that’s definitely a positive,” Acton said.

Acton will look to several other players, many from last year’s JV team, to step in and fill new roles.

“We had a good JV team last year, they went about 17-1,” he said. “Those are some of the kids we are looking to to step up.”



Danville

Second-year coach Mark Callighan will lead a youthful Danville squad in 2009.

Playing without graduated seniors Liz Scott (12.3 ppg) and Molly Stewart (7.6 ppg, 3.4 apg), the Warriors will feature just three players with varsity experience.

“Not only were they a couple of top scorers, but they were also our leaders,” Callighan said. “All we’ll try to do is develop players that can step out there and contribute.”

Danville’s varsity returners include 6-foot-2 senior Amy Kramer and juniors Sarah Elliott and Taryn Collier. Kramer averaged 9.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last season, while Elliott and Collier were in and out of the starting line-up.

“We’re looking for Amy Kramer to have a big year,” Callighan said. “She’s been in here over the summer working on things, and will be a key for us. Elliott and Collier were in enough games to know what varsity is all about.”

New faces make up the rest of the roster.

Four players — Savana Stallsmith, Katie Hall, Breanna Trump, and Danielle Shipley — played JV last season. Two — Tiffany Moore and Rebecca Crane — have no high school basketball experience.

“It’s only hard because of the fact that they’re still learning the system,” Callighan said. “They’ve done a nice job, they pick things up quick, so that’s not going to be a problem. But their eyes are going to be big that first game.”

In 2008, the Warriors finished 10-11 and won their first sectional contest since the 2003-04 season.

Callighan did not make any predictions for 2009, instead saying the team is simply aiming for improvement.

“I want my girls to compete and to commit to just getting better,” he said. “Our goals are going to be very simple. Try to get better and compete in every game, and whatever happens, happens.”



Cascade

Following back-to-back six-win seasons, the Cadets look to get back on track in 2009.

Cascade graduates just one starter and returns its top three scorers from last season.

Six-foot senior Alex Morgan averaged 14.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game last season and looks to be a force in the paint again for the Cadets.

“We say we want more out of her, but you look and she averaged a double-double last year,” Cascade coach Don Helmick said.

Brittany Sallee returns after an impressive sophomore season in which she averaged 9.5 points and 3.1 steals per game.

Helmick also expects big things out of sophomore point guard Andrea Rivera — who missed last season due to injury — and senior forward Alyssa Suter, who averaged 8.1 points per game last season.

“She has improved so much and has the ability to make shots fall that shouldn’t fall,” Helmick said of Suter.

Juniors Brittany Stephenson and Bridget Smith were also key contributors last season and return for the Cadets.

Despite the team’s struggles last season, Helmick fully expects his team to be a contender in the West Central Conference this season.

“We should be able to contend,” he said. “Our goal is to go into that last conference game against Speedway with something on the line.”



Brownsburg

With just one senior on the roster last season, the Bulldogs went through their share of growing pains and won just four games.

But head coach Amy Brauman has reason for optimism, as she returns the core of her team for the 2009-10 season.

“We are very excited, the kids worked really hard to get better this summer and we played a lot of games,” Brauman said.

Junior guard Erika Lesch returns after leading the Bulldogs in scoring (9.3 ppg) last season.

“Erika had a really good freshman year, but had to handle the ball a little more than we would’ve liked last year,” Brauman said. “Hopefully she’ll be able to play more shooting guard this season.”

Lesch was forced into point guard duty after Morgan Miller was injured early in the season.

Senior Leah Freestone (5.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and junior Lindsey Dall (6.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg) will lead Brownsburg in the post.

“Leah has done a great job getting the girls together this offseason and Lindsey was honorable all-HCC last year and we expect good things out of her,” Brauman said.

Sophomore Allison DeVaney and juniors Ryne Carr and Alaura McKemie also return after gaining varsity experience last season.

Brauman also expects contributions from Lauren Fiscus, Haley Wittig, Katie Reinhart, and incoming freshman Stephanie Mavunga (6-foot-2) among others.

Brauman looks for her team to contend for the county title and be competitive in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference that featured three top 15 teams last season.

“We obviously hope to compete for the county championship and that’s going to be tough,” she said. “I would also like to finish in the top third of the conference. We have a realistic shot to do that, but we’d have to play very well.”