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Tiger Cubs looking to seniors for strong leadership this season
Greencastle’s girls’ basketball team got off to a slow start last year at 0-4, battling through some injury problems and meeting some of the toughest teams on their schedule.
The Tiger Cubs recovered to finish 13-10 and win the East Division of the Western Indiana Conference.
The team’s top three scorers from last year have all moved on, with post player Nailah Ray (8.7 points, 5.2 rebounds per game) now playing for Olney Junior College and wing player Gracie Smith (7.2 points, 2.8 assists per game) now playing at Lincoln Trail College.
Post player Claire Gillen, the other half of coach Bradley Key’s 1-2 post tandem, led the team scoring and rebounding (11.7, 6.6) but has stepped away from basketball to concentrate on soccer.
Key looks to rely on a “positionless” squad this year that will feature more guards than usual, but he has the personnel to pull it off.
Junior Jalyn Duff averaged 7.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game last year and returns at point guard, while wing players Bailey Shuee (5.6 points, 2.8 rebounds), Layna Robinson (0.8 points, 1.6 rebounds) Marin Nally (2.1 points, 2.1 rebounds) and Seelye Stoffregen (2.8 points, 1.3 rebounds) will all look to shoulder some of the departed scoring load.
Post players Rose White (3.8 points, 6.5 rebounds) and Allison Stevens (0.9 points and 0.8 rebounds) will take on rebounding duties.
Stevens mostly played junior varsity last season, but plays extensively on a summer travel team in Illinois and Key expects her to step into the rotation.
“She is someone who has good length and is a very skilled basketball player,” he said. “That will help us on both offense and defense.”
Key likes what he has seen so far.
“We’ve had a good week and a half of practice,” Key said earlier this week. “It was good to get Allison and Jalyn back (from volleyball), but it was good to get the other players more reps that first week.”
Key is counting on his trio of seniors – White, Robinson and Nally – to provide leadership for his otherwise young team.
“We have three really good seniors,” Key said. “Rose has been with us for a couple of years, while Layna and Marin are both unbelievable kids to be around. They have both worked hard at basketball and have gotten better every year. They started off not getting a lot of playing time as freshmen, then JV players as sophomores and role players last year. This year, they’re going to be a big part of what we do.”
Key is excited that this year’s team will be “athletic and quick,” which suits his style to get the ball out on the break.
“We have a lot of guards who can help us to do that,” Key said. “Having Jalyn Duff back at point guard is great, and she’s going to be a big part of what we do. Adding in Seelye, Bailey and Layna our guard play will be a strength for us. Having been a guard when I played [at Alexandria High School], I really like to have good guard play, and I’m looking forward to working with those girls.”
Key was a frequent observer at the school’s fall sports events this year, in which his players excelled.
White, Nally and Shuee were all members of the all-Western Indiana Conference golf team, which Greencastle won as a team. Duff and Stevens were key members of the school’s sectional championship volleyball team, while Stoffregen ran for the cross country team and Robinson was one of the top performers for Greencastle’s cheerleading team over the summer.
“Winning breeds winning,” he said. “You want the best athletes in the school to play different sports. It was a ton of fun to watch them all competing out there and doing well. That’s exactly what you want as a coach, is to see them learning how to win matches and games and being successful.”
Adding to that list of versatile athletes are freshman soccer standouts Kennedy Trigg and Sydney Doan, who will start the season on the junior varsity roster but could move up at some point.
“We have a good freshman class,” Key said. “It’s kind of early right now, and we’re not sure exactly what’s going to happen. Kennedy and Sydney look like good athletes and may able to get some varsity minutes. Right now we’re focusing on that first seven who have been through the process.”
The Tiger Cubs will open up on Friday with a home game against Cascade, which beat the Tiger Cubs in last year’s WIC championship game. They will then host Edgewood, play at Owen Valley and then host Beech Grove.
“That will be a gauntlet again this year to open the season,” he said. “Cascade and Owen Valley will probably be ranked to start the season, and Edgewood and Beech Grove are both strong programs every year. Those are some of the better teams on our schedule. It may be rough start again, or it may not, but you want to be able to gage yourself on where you are. Those four games will make us a better team come time for the county, conference and sectional tournaments.”
Greencastle has won the county tournament for the past four years, and in seven of Key’s seasons as head coach. Ironically, the only year the Tiger Cubs did not win the county title (2012-13) was the year Greencastle won the sectional title.
Key has had a winning record in all eight seasons as Greencastle’s head coach, never losing more than 10 games in a season.
He knows that the upcoming season will be a tough one for competition within the county, and he likes the quality of Greencastle’s county foes.
“People always ask me how many games we’re going to win, and it’s always hard to tell,” Key said. “I know this is one of the better schedules we’ve had. The county is as good as it’s ever been, and we have good coaches in the county. We have a lot of good athletes playing the sport right now.
“The conference is also very tough, and our sectional is great,” he said. “A few years ago we won 18 games, and I’m not sure that team was any better than this team. Sometimes it’s who you play and when you play them.”
Besides Ray and Smith, a third Greencastle grad will be competing collegiately this season as junior Callan Taylor is one of the top performers at St. Mary-of-the-Woods.
“It’s good to have people playing in college, and the younger ones can look up to them and see the hard work they all put in has paid off,” Key said. “I think if a lot of our girls wanted to go on and play they could.”
Key is excited for the prospects this team has.
“We are going to be a tough team for people to beat,” he said. “We still have some learning to do. We still have some learning to do, but I’m excited about this group. They can take criticism and they know we are all in this together.
“One of the things I like best about this group is its competitiveness,” Key added. “Our practices get brutal sometimes because no one wants to lose, whether it’s a scrimmage situation or a competitive drill. I want fighters, and we have them this year. That’s exactly what you want as a coach.”
