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Starting over: Young Pioneers trying to avoid living in the past
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By Jeremy Stafford - jstafford@nvdaily.com
WINCHESTER -- It's a new year, and a new season for Millbrook.
Never mind that the Pioneers are coming off a 25-3 season and a Group AA, Division 3 state semifinal appearance: Millbrook is approaching this season "one game at a time."
"We've done that traditionally," Millbrook coach Debby Sanders said. "We're not looking beyond that, we're not thinking beyond that.
"We've done that from day one, we're gonna continue to do that, we're not gonna change from that."
Millbrook (4-0) returns a strong core of players from last season in senior Lacey Harris and sophomores Courtni Green and Sara Mead; they also lost a solid group of seniors with the graduations of Madison Baker and sisters Tylesa and Tarin Harper-Scott.
As such, Harris, the Pioneers' lone senior, has taken a more vocal approach to practices this season.
"I'm just trying really hard to be a leader for everyone else," Harris said. "I'm vocal in the games, but in practice I don't really talk that much, but I'm trying to step it up a little bit."
Green, who has scored at least 24 points through three games, admits that with such a young team, even she, as a sophomore, has to be called upon to aid Harris as a ringleader for the Pioneers.
"This is my second year on the team, and you know how we're young, so me, Lacey [Harris] and Sara [Mead] have pretty much the most experience on the team," Green said. "So I look for myself to be one of the leaders, too."
Harris, Green and Mead are the only returning starters from last year's team, and so all three are captains; Sanders starts four sophomores, including 5-10 transfer Alisha Mobley, who played AAU ball in Fairfax with Green and Mead.
And though the Pioneers are young, they certainly don't lack the will to improve. When asked what impresses her most about her young team, Sanders wasted no time with her answer: "their work ethic."
"We started the first of September with preseason conditioning and we averaged 17 to 20 kids every day," Sanders explained. "They lifted, they ran -- they ran the track, we run outside, we run the bleachers.
"They run and there's no doubt they run."
Only a couple weeks into the season, Millbrook has run over its competition, the most recent exploit being an 89-41 throttling of Jefferson.
"This is a solid group of kids -- it's a team, you can see that," Sanders said. "They're getting better and better every time, they support each other on an off the floor.
"They're fun -- they're fun to be around."
Central
Falcons coach Stephanie Mathews knows that just because Central has moved to Group A after spending two seasons in Group AA, the Falcons' season won't be an easygoing one. The Shenandoah District is home to Buffalo Gap, the defending state champions, and the Falcons sport a core of young players.
"We have a young team," said Mathews, whose team went 9-14 last season, losing to Handley in the Northwestern District quarterfinals. "We have a lot of young kids up, so this is kind of a year where we're gonna learn, we're gonna break things down a lot.
"But they work hard, they work really, really hard. I feel like they're focused -- that they know what their job is when they come to practice every day."
With no outstanding scoring threat, Mathews said her team will "score by committee," which will add a bit of flexibility to her offense. Brea Hinegardner, a senior and four-year varsity player, returns for the Falcons.
Clarke County
For Clarke County coach Tim Lawrence, this basketball season will be more of the same: bring full-court pressure on defense, spread the ball around on offense.
Without the drive-and-dish threat of the now graduated Sophia Holmes, Lawrence said the Eagles will depend on a little bit of scoring from everyone, as opposed to a lot of scoring from just a few. In an early win over Stonewall Jackson, 11 girls scored for Clarke County. Seniors Jessica Dinkins and Amy Hagerdon are captains this season, and junior Kasey Canterbury had a strong showing in the game in Quicksburg.
"It's hard to say how good we can be," Lawrence said. "We're very inexperienced and we're not very big, but as far as the attitude of the kids and the heart that they're showing, I think we have the potential to be a good team."
Handley
Last season Marvin Scott's young Judges ended a 14-13 campaign with a loss to Millbrook in the Region II semifinals, but Scott refused to "make excuses for the kids as far as being young."
This season Handley will still be a young team, having lost four seniors, and will be steered by junior point guard Erin Drumheller as well as sophomores Sadielyn Thomas and Corin Scott. Senior Kameron Scott will provide a defensive presence on the blocks.
"We've got some kids who can put up some numbers, but then again we have some kids," Marvin Scott said. "I keep preaching consistency -- if we can be on the same page and be consistent throughout the year, then we'll be in a good place.
"If not, then it's anybody's ball game."
James Wood
While the Colonels return a potent scorer in senior Heather Armel (20.6 ppg last season), first-year James Wood coach Rhonda Slider said she's focusing on honing her team's defense.
"I've always tried to impress defense and running some presses and things like that," Slider said, "hoping that would be quick turnovers for us and kind of help us on the offensive end."
But the real "trick" this season, as Slider explained it, is figuring out how to diffuse the Colonels' scoring from Armel, as she'll likely attract a lot of attention from defenses. Slider cited Whitney Dennis as a "quick-as-a-rabbit" point guard and Shannon Thorne as a junior ready to take on post responsibilities.
Sherando
After winning eight games last season and suffering a close loss to Skyline in the Northwestern District semifinals, Sherando coach Tim Davis said he's looking forward to returning all five starters from last season.
"[We've] got great senior leadership, we've got a bunch of seniors that are really stepping up to the mark," Davis said. "They're taking charge, they've worked all summer, they've worked in the preseason.
"I never make predictions, but we will be a very much improved basketball team."
Senior captain Brooklyn Wilson returns along with point guard Taylor Henshaw, while sophomore Morgan Sirbaugh will continue her duties as the Warriors' leading scorer.
Skyline
For the Hawks, adjusting to the schemes of first-year head coach Jim Kenney has been tougher than overcoming their youth.
"We're starting to come together, and it's been a process," Kenney said, "but they're really starting to play a little bit better together and put in the effort that I want them to put in."
Skyline lost only one senior, Tootie Jackson, from last year's 13-13 team, and has only one senior returning this year, Shannon Hoverter. Along with junior Kristina Salazar, Hoverter will provide the Hawks with a strong presence on the blocks. Most of the offense, though, will run through sophomore Taylor Henry and junior Kelsey Corcoran.
Stonewall Jackson
After winning the Shenandoah District regular-season title and advancing to the Region B semifinals a year ago, the Generals are sporting a revamped lineup, littered with freshmen and sophomores.
Heather Stout is the only senior on the team, and is the only returning player to have started every game last season. Sophomore Ashlie Clar will continue in her starting role, as will sophomore Cassie Conley. Freshman Michaela Koontz takes over as point guard.
"I'm excited about this group," Generals coach Jeff Burner said. "I really like this group, they work so hard every day and you can tell they want to be good."
Strasburg
This season the Rams will combine a lot of senior experience with an abundance of youthful talent. Seniors Jenna Smoot, Jaclyn Ayers and Stephanie Conde return as Strasburg's top scorers, and Jennifer Jackson has rejoined the team after missing the tail end of last season. Gabe Giersch will provide a shooting threat, and freshman Katlyn Ayers will split time with Jaclyn Ayers and Corissa Alsberry at point guard.
"It is a nice feeling having such an experienced group back, but we're also really working to bring that other group along as well," Rams coach Joel Morgan said. "So it's kind of a little bit of both extremes, but we do feel very good having those kids back."
Warren County
The Wildcats are young, but they are quick as well. Sophomores Gabby Turner, Kelly Martin and Brianna Caison will start, with Caison posing as a very capable scoring threat. Warren County coach John Kelly said the team, though young, has at least spent a year in his high-tempo, fast-break offense.
This past autumn, the Wildcats played in a fall league with Evergreen District rivals Fauquier and Liberty. Kelly said his team will match up well in the Evergreen this year, Warren County's first season in the district.
"I run a pretty quick, fast-tempo offense," Kelly said. "[Last season] was laying the groundwork to allow us this season to actually step into the offense, and we've been pretty successful in our scrimmages and our first game so far running it."
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