With a new coach, GHS girls basketball look for a fresh start

GREENCASTLE -- The Greencastle High School girls' basketball team has somewhat of a new look this season.

Brad Key, a 23-year old teacher at GHS, is now on the bench calling the shots after Glenn Hile stepped down as head coach of the Lady Tiger Cubs and the one thing that Key has already changed is the way the Lady Tiger Cubs are going to play.

"We are going to get out there and run this year," Key said. "Our offense is going to be more a of Princeton offense where we are setting up high and hitting the back door looks and with Kayla Nobles and Alyssa Nichols at the point position, I think we're going to be a very fast team."

Nichols is a newcomer to the team this year and Key said he didn't know much about her in the beginning except for the things people had said, but after Saturday's and Tuesday's wins, he knows a lot more.

Nichols hit a last second shot Saturday, giving the Lady Tiger Cubs the win and she ran the offense that routed the Mounties Tuesday night.

Along with Nobles and Nichols, Key will have two other weapons for his new offense this year -- Mallory Miller who was the all-county player of the year and Chelsea Samuels. So if Greencastle can't get the points on the fast break, they have another route to go.

"If you play your cards right, you can get a lot of points off the fast break," Key said. "But you have to have another offense to look to if that doesn't work."

That's where Samuels and Miller fit in.

"Any coach would be happy to have two players like those two," Key said. "They both can score and have a passion for the game and we will go as far as those two take us this year."

So far Miller is doing just that. She put up 33 points in Saturday's season opening win over Brown County. Last year she averaged 11 points a game in the regular season, but turned it up a notch in the postseason scoring 37 points over the two sectional games she played in.

Samuels tallied only four points in Saturday's thriller but dominated the paint Tuesday, putting up 13 points.

It seems Key's run and gun offense is also working at the moment. Outside of Miller's 33 points, Nichols put up 15 points and Nobles scored 10 points herself Saturday and the Lady Tiger Cubs ran through Southmont 62-31 on Tuesday.

Key also believes he can call on any player at any time to step in on his team.

"I feel that I have 10 players that I can plug in at any time and not miss a beat at all," Key said.

After Saturday's performance he might be right, but only time will tell.

Last year the Lady Tiger Cubs opened up with a four game winning streak before hitting a skid where they went 1-8. That is the one thing the Key wants to change about this team.

"Our team motto this year is never give up," Key said. "And I think there were times last year where they did give up. We have a real athletic team this year and if we keep pushing onward I think we will be fine this year.

"We think that we can be very strong in the conference this year and we want to go after the county title this year," Key added. "We are really going to work and push hard this season to accomplish our goals."

One thing Key said his team wants to do this year is beat the teams they know they shouldn't beat.

"They really want to beat some good teams this year. They want to beat the teams that everybody thinks they should not beat," Key said.

As far as leadership goes for the team this year, Key said that his team would go as far as Miller and Samuels would take them, but sometimes it helps to have some experience to go with the skill.

"There are three seniors on the team this year and we will be leaning of them a lot this year, but there is one I think will make an impact this year -- Kate Babington," Key said. "She played a lot of JV last year and I firmly think that she make an impact on this team."

If anyone would know that, Key would, considering he was the JV coach last year and watched Babington play.

This is Key's first season as a varsity coach and at 23-year-old he is up to the challenge and pressures of coaching a varsity program.

"I'm not sure how the older people in this position handle the stress, but I look at as a challenge," Key said. "A lot of people might look at me and think I am a little green behind the ears, but I think that benefits me."