GIRLS' PREVIEWS: Tiger Cubs look to keep roaring under new coach

Greencastle will definitely have a new look this year, losing three of its top seven players from last year as well as coach Bradley Key — who departed to take over at Greenfield-Central.

Taking the reins of the Tiger Cubs is veteran Tod Windlan, who has won more than 200 games coaching at six schools.

He was fired at Carmel last year despite a 24-3 record and a sectional title.

Windlan is happy to be with Greencastle, and likes the possibilities his new team presents.

“The summer went pretty well,” he said. “We played upper echelon teams everywhere we went, and I did that to expose them to some good athleticism and quickness they’ll see if they want to make a tournament run.”

Windlan took over in mid-June, missing out on some crucial practice time but still feeling he got a lot accomplished.

“It was a solid summer and we got a lot done,” he said. “This fall, we had a late start because we had seven or eight kids [about half the roster] still playing volleyball. That gave us a chance to work more individually with the other players, which was good. The volleyball kids have come in and worked hard, and things are going in the right direction.”

Senior guard Jalyn Duff returns as an all-county guard. She averaged 10.8 points per game last year, to go with 3.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.6 steals per game.

Senior guards Bailey Shuee (7.0 points, 4.4 rebounds) and Seelye Stoffregen (7.6 points, 2.7 rebounds) also return, as well as junior forward Allison Stevens (5.6 points, 5.7 rebounds).

“Allison could be a bigtime player and I think she could be a Division I basketball player before she’s done,” Windlan said. “Jalyn is just such a tough kid, and Seelye and Bailey have been around a long time.”

The Tiger Cubs also get a boost with the return to the court of senior center Claire Gillen, who has signed to play soccer and compete in track and field at St. Mary-of-the-Woods. She led the team in scoring and rebounding as a sophomore, but did not play last year.

She suffered a sprained ankle that forced her to miss the end of the soccer season, and will miss the first few weeks of the season.

“We’ll be glad to get her back out there when she’s ready,” he said.

Looking to help fill in are sophomores Sydney Doan and Kennedy Trigg, senior Kameelah Ray (who also did not play last year) and transfers Ella and Mia Shields (from Hamilton Heights) and Madison Rodgers (from Mount Vernon-Posey).

The Shields sisters transferred to Greencastle earlier this month, and while they haven’t been in the system long Windlan likes what they offer.

“They provide good depth in areas where you need depth,” he said, noting that Ella is a sophomore post player and Mia is a freshman point guard. “They will fit in nicely here.”

The well-stocked roster gives Windlan a lot of depth to utilize.

“We could play 10 to 12 kids in a game, and if certain key players are in a game there’s not going to be much of a dropoff. We can play a bigger lineup, or a smaller one with a lot more quickness. There are a lot of pieces there that make it fun, when you can exploit mismatches and play different kinds of defenses.”

Windlan has spent a lot of time over the past few months familiarizing himself with the team’s competition, watching game films.

While the competition is not at the level of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference where Carmel plays, Windlan recognizes the good brand of basketball player in the Western Indiana Conference.

“It’s absolutely a good conference, and there is good basketball around here,” he said. “You look at the schedule, and we have teams very highly rated early on with Danville, Benton Central and Owen Valley. Cloverdale has a nice team, and South Putnam, Sullivan, a lot of good teams in the conference. It’s going to be fun.”

Windlan admits being a “gym rat,” and is looking forward to visiting a lot of gyms where he has never been before.

“I love seeing gyms, and I will be anxious to see them and meet the coaches and see what we can do,” he said.

Windlan is no stranger at going to a new school and building upon the foundation set down by his predecessor, having gone through the process six times in the past 14 years.

“They have had a lot of success here, and that’s always good to come into to a program that is like that,” he said. “It’s all about changing the culture to how I want to do things. They are adapting very well.

“Bradley had his terminology that was probably fairly similar to what we call things, so it’s not like you’re talking Chinese to them. But the way we play is a lot, lot different than how they are used to playing.”

Key played primarily a 2-3 zone defense, while Windlan is a man-to-man disciple and rotates defenses to fit the situation. He also likes to utilize the full-court press.

“It’s all about adapting and buying in to what we are doing on the floor,” he said. “If they continue to do that, we will have a fun season. Playing 84 feet is really important.”

Windlan admits he knows he doesn’t have a Miss Basketball like Amy Dilk, who was on his Carmel team last year, but likes his talent.

“We have kids that can definitely play the game,” he said. “It’s going to be a fun year.”

The biggest change has come defensively, and Windlan admits that the players are taking “baby steps” but are getting better every day.

“There are a lot of 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 breakdown defensive drills, and getting better is a big plus,” he said. “We are not where we need to be, but we are getting there.”

The Cubs will play Monrovia on Saturday in a practice.

“We’re working on everything, but we have to get better defensively,” he said. “We can score off our defense, and offense comes down to making the right reads. Seventy percent of baskets in this game come from broken plays or turnovers, and we need to capitalize on that.”

Windlan is also settling into his position as the middle school athletic director, and has been thankful for the help he has received.

“Scott Weltz, the middle school principal, and Lisa Cupp [assistant principal] have been great to me there,” he said. “It’s about being organized and getting things situated to how you want things to be done. Chad Rodgers at the high school, as well as Doug Greenlee and Samantha Call, have all been great too. I have adjusted to the change well.

“It just feels good to be wanted.”

2018-19 roster

Coach: Tod Windlan

2017-18 results (16-9)

Edgewood, L 51-45

at Owen Valley, L 50-22

Beech Grove, L 68-40

at Southmont, W 53-38

North Putnam, W 37-19

at South Putnam, W 33-32

at Crawfordsville, W 47-23

Tri-West, W 54-46

at West Vigo, W 50-21

at Danville, W 57-41

South Putnam, W 63-58 (OT)

at Sullivan, W 52-42

at Cloverdale, L 55-35

Cascade, L 49-41

Terre Haute South, L 60-45

Northview, W 47-31

Monrovia, L 51-48

North Montgomery, W 57-24

at North Putnam, W 53-17

at Owen Valley, L 65-31

at Western Boone, W 48-43

at South Vermillion, W 61-53

Sectional

Lebanon, W 48-34

Southmont, W 63-35

Benton Central, L 56-37

2018-19 schedule

(Game times 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise)

Nov. 1 – at Cascade

Nov. 3 – at Edgewood

Nov. 6 – Owen Valley

Nov. 10 – Benton Central, 2:30 p.m.

Nov. 13 – Southmont

Nov. 16 – vs. North Putnam in Putnam County Tournament, 6 p.m.

Nov. 17 – Consolation/finals

Nov. 20 – Crawfordsville

Nov. 27 – at Tri-West

Nov. 30 – at West Vigo, 6 p.m.

Dec. 4 – Danville

Dec. 7 – at South Putnam, 6 p.m.

Dec. 14 – Sullivan, 6 p.m.

Dec. 18 – Cloverdale

Jan. 2 – at T.H. South

Jan. 4 – at Northview, 6 p.m.

Jan. 6 – Monrovia 12:30 p.m.

Jan. 8 – at No. Montgomery

Jan. 11 – North Putnam, 6 p.m.

Jan. 18 – WIC crossover (H)

Jan. 19 – Western Boone, 6 p.m.

Jan. 22 – at Monrovia

Jan. 24 – South Vermillion