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2022-23 GIRLS' BASKETBALL PREVIEWS: Tiger Cubs look for rebound season with experienced squad
It took time for Greencastle to get acclimated to the 2021-22 season. Eleven games, in fact.
The Tiger Cubs finished 6-18 but ended the season 5-5 with a sectional win to boot and while losing three seniors, the squad retained a solid core to build around heading into the 2022-23 season.
Even with multiple varsity players returning, head coach Doug Greenlee said it was a bit too strong to call the squad a highly-experienced unity ready to jump into the season.
“Thus far we don’t look like a team with a lot of returning experience,” Greenlee said about the early weeks of practice. “We have two weeks to prepare to play games and that is not going to be enough.
“Most of our girls play a fall sport, which is good, but leaves no time in the offseason to prepare.”
Emma Hunter (10.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.0 spg) returns for her senior season as the leading scorer from last year, flanked by returning senior Stephanie Morales (2.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg) and newcomer Gloria Brewer, who is currently practicing but has not been cleared to compete.
Evelyn Briones (6.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.7 spg) leads a junior group including Madie Plew (2.6 rpg) and Aleeyah Johnson while sophomores Ali Dobbs and Zoey Doan return after seeing varsity minutes.
Getting things going on offense will be the task of the returning squad, one Greenlee said was still in the air heading into the upcoming season.
“Practices have not given me an answer to this question,” Greenlee said about who would run the offense. “We need to be able to initiate our offense better than last year and I am looking for that right now.
We do have some size and we need to score points inside and not rely completely on the perimeter game as we did last year. Good teams get easy baskets inside but we are not there yet.”
Behind the varsity squad include sophomores Emma Allison, Becca Rady, Grace Odedina and Kayla Dickey and freshmen Bailey Brown, Elise Dicharo, Avah Johnson, Elianna Dinn, Izzy Camara, Lexi Camara and Rowan O’Bannon.
“Bailey will play minutes at the varsity level,” Greenlee noted. “She is a dependable player who has great hands inside and a knack for the game.”
In two of the past three years, the early season slate has been difficult for Greencastle to navigate with the Tiger Cubs only winning three games before the turn of the calendar in the 2021-22 and 2019-20 seasons.
Greenlee said the squad needed to get several things sorted out in the early going before the Putnam County Tournament but wanted the girls to focus on reducing some of the easier items to fix in the opening weeks of the season. “I have been emphasizing team chemistry, cutting down the turnovers and not committing silly fouls,” Greenlee said. “We are also looking at roles for the players and possibly by this time of the year, we will have some of these things figured out.”
Greencastle, as in volleyball, moves down to Class 2A Sectional No. 44 and will host the tournament when it arrives at the end of the season.
Greenlee said the group, with a year under the new coaching staff, should be better suited to take on the challenge of winning a first sectional since 2013 once postseason play rolls around.
“I feel like this team has a high ceiling,” Greenlee said. “My expectations and those of the players, should be much higher.
“We have had a year together and we need to make that a positive for the 2022-23 season.”