Basketball: Freshman make immediate impact for Generals (01-28-06)
Foursome helps push Stonewall Jackson into first place in Shenandoah District -- By Michael Petre (Daily Staff Writer)
QUICKSBURG — One is known, quite succinctly, as "Bull."
Oddly enough, her coach pushes her to be more physical, to take on the mind-set that seemingly would come with her nickname.
The other has found success by using a mean streak that extends beyond her varsity experience. That has helped her become an immediate contributor to a team looking for more options.
They're both freshmen, but Stonewall Jackson girls basketball coach Jeff Burner knew they would play important roles. After all, they pretty much had to.
"We knew that they would have a big impact — or at least we hoped they would," Burner said before practice earlier this week. "We knew that it was going to be necessary for them to contribute this year for us to have success."
Jessica Richardson — better known as "Bull" — and fellow forward Molly Beall have developed an interior presence to aid playmaking junior guard Kallie Hovatter, who averages an area-best 21.4 points, 5.8 assists and 6.2 steals. Along with guard Meghan Lutz and forward Brittany Smith, Richardson and Beall are the Generals' freshman presence, making up half of Burner's eight-player roster.
Lutz, a distributor and perimeter shooter, and Smith, a defensive presence, have chipped in off the bench, but the rapid development of Richardson and Beall has sparked the Generals to a 13-3 record, 5-1 in the Shenandoah District. Averaging 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds, Beall has emerged as the Generals' second scoring option, while Richardson has chipped in a reliable 5.1 points and 7.3 rebounds.
"Molly's probably had the biggest statistics, but all of them have improved in their own ways," Burner said. "That's been a big key."
Originally a group of six players as eighth-graders on Stonewall's junior varsity last season, the group this year was trimmed to four. Burner saw enough out of them to be confident in their ability to contribute, but Beall wasn't convinced.
"I couldn't be stupid like I was on the JV," she said. "I had to be a lot smarter, step it up mentally and physically."
So she did. Converting 55 percent of her shots, Beall has surfaced as an inside scorer to counter Hovatter's perimeter game, bringing balance to the Stonewall offense in the process.
"She's able to clean up a lot underneath the basket," Hovatter said. "She gets big rebounds that I didn't even know she was able to get."
Beall has unleashed an aggressive streak — "I do get mean sometimes," she admits — that has paid dividends. Her scoring ability surfaced at Page County on Jan. 20; with Hovatter fighting foul trouble, Beall had 24 points and 12 rebounds to guide the Generals to a 63-54 win.
"I wouldn't say we had bled to death," Burner said. "But it was running out and we were dragging a little bit."
Richardson, meanwhile, still is adjusting to the size and speed of the varsity game. "Bull" earned her nickname from an AAU coach several years ago.
"I did really bad," she said. "I could shoot it up there and everything, but I would do it too hard and it would break off the glass."
That led to the coach making a "bull in a china shop" remark. The nickname stuck.
"Everybody's always asking me if I like my nickname because they think it's not good for a girl or something," Richardson said. "I like it. My friends call me it, adults call me that. It's like a second name."
But playing like a bull isn't second nature just yet.
"Her personality is so not-physical," Burner said. "She's one of the nicest human beings you'll ever meet in your life. We're trying to mean her up a little bit, and she's doing better at that."
On Jan. 10, Beall and Richardson struggled at Wilson Memorial in what became the Generals' only district loss. Despite an overwhelming 43 points from Hovatter, Beall (one point) and Richardson (two) didn't chip in, leaving the Generals with a 71-64 defeat.
"They got pounded," Burner said. "It's up to you then, once you've had that set to you, to decide what you're going to do. Are you going to back away, or are you going to raise your game up?"
They chose the latter. When the Generals hosted Riverheads four days later, Beall and Richardson combined for 20 points and 21 rebounds in a 53-38 win.
"If Wilson was the lesson," Burner said, "then Riverheads was the start of getting better."
Beall and Richardson got another shot at Wilson Memorial on Thursday and took full advantage of the opportunity, combining for 18 points and 16 rebounds in the Generals' 59-37 win. Hovatter's triple-double stole the limelight, but the Generals' still-emerging youth has given Burner more options.
"If you leave them alone," he said, "they're going to make you pay for that."
R Contact Michael Petre at mpetre@nvdaily.com
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