ANDERSON — Highland’s new girls varsity basketball coach Chad Cook is getting help from a pair of junior leaders as the Scots make the transition to the 2009-10 season.
“Jessika Lark and Krosley Ogden have helped a lot,” said Cook. “They are our best players and our hardest workers. The rest of the girls are following suit.”
Highland is still a relatively young team with just three seniors, Holly Matthews, Haley Brown and Sydni Cleckley. There are six juniors, no sophomores and two freshmen.
“I like what we’re seeing,” said Cook. “We’re coming off a 6-16 season. We want to make sure we teach them to do things the right way.”
But there are still some questions about what the team will actually look like when the players take the floor.
“That remains to be seen with us,” said Cook. “We want to harness down the defense. I’d like to see us shoot a lot of layups and that comes from defense. But we will still be able to play in the half-court. I played under (former Highland) coach Darner, so I think I know half-court defense.”
Anderson
There’s little doubt that replacing scoring will be the top priority for the Indians. The team lost Jasmine McGhee and Bryesha McCullough. “That was 32 points we lost right there,” said coach Randy Harrison. “We have to find someone to step up, fill the void and score.”
Two seniors, three sophomores and two freshmen will see a lot of the varsity playing time. Dominique Davis and Janelle Davis are the seniors. The sophomores are Crysphena Hill, Bruna Braxton and Denielle Davis. The freshmen are twins Savannah and Sharice Davis.
“We ran the players through the Anderson University summer league and they played well,” said Harrison. “We’ve got athletic, great kids. We are going to be small and fast. If we can’t defend and can’t deny, then we’re going to be in trouble.”
There are five juniors on the varsity roster. Ciedre McDonald could be one of the most critical from that class and she is going to be looked at as a post player.
Liberty Christian
There are expectations of improvement this season and much of that optimism is based around a group of five upperclassmen.
“Our girls have made a lot of improvements over the past year,” said Jason Chappell, the schools’ athletic director and boys basketball coach speaking for girls coach Michael Carey.
“We have a core group of five girls who start in volleyball, basketball and softball,” said Chappell. “These five are Karon Earley, Riley Ramsey, Erika Lindley, Shelley Lehman and Jessica Polhamus. They have jelled and it is helping them in every sport. Their footwork, ball handling and shooting have improved dramatically.”
Liberty Christian has most of its team returning from a year ago.
“We only lost one senior,” said Chappell. “We added some more athletes as well. Junior post player Laura McConnell should make an impact and so should freshman guard Briana Ayers. The Lady Lions should experience some major success with this lineup.”
High School Sports
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Aaron Piper
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Aaron Piper
Discussion
Transition in the city
Changes are in the air for Scots, Indians and Lions
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Triumphant Tribe
Seventeen years of frustration and disappointment for the Anderson Indians baseball team ended in a jubilant dog pile atop junior pitcher Curtis Wilson on Monday night at Pendleton Heights’ Field of Dreams.
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Argylls squeeze into crown
Madison-Grant coach Ben Rodriguez liked his squeeze play so much that he called it again in the pivotal inning of the Class 2A, Sectional 39 championship game at Eastern High School on Monday night in Greentown.
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Bulldogs’ comeback falls just short
Not even a heroic seventh-inning rally could save the Lapel baseball team in the Class 2A sectional title game at Frankton on Monday afternoon.
The Bulldogs scored four runs in the seventh inning but still came up a run short as the Wapahani Raiders won the championship 9-8. -
Tribe rallies past Pendleton Heights into final
This is the stuff of legend.
The kind of game that defines a rivalry.
The kind of victory that breathes new life into a program.
And the kind of defeat that won’t ever be forgotten. -
Tipton bedevils Madison-Grant
The Madison-Grant softball team dug a deep hole on Friday night in the championship game of the Class 2A, Sectional 39 at Eastern High School in Greentown. Trailing 5-0 after four innings, the Argylls scratched their way back into the game, but were on the short end of a 5-4 decision against the Tipton Blue Devils.
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Indians’ Dabney headed to state
The North Central Boys Track Regional is traditionally one of the toughest in the state with powerhouses Lawrence Central, Ben Davis, Pike and the host Panthers among the competitors
But that didn’t faze Anderson senior Derrick Dabney, who turned in two brilliant performances in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles at Thursday’s regional to advance to the state meet at Indiana University in Bloomington next Saturday. -
Roller coaster ride comes to end for Lapel
The Lapel Bulldogs couldn’t overcome one more hurdle in their roller-coaster season on Thursday as they fell to Wapahani 4-1 in the softball championship game of the Class 2A, Sectional 40 at Shenandoah High School.
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Mason powers Bulldogs into final
The Frankton pitching staff opened the door just a tick Thursday with occasional bouts of wildness. Lapel sophomore Dane Mason blew the door off its hinges with the first multi-homer game of his high school career — including a walk-off grand slam — and the third-ranked Bulldogs stomped the rival Eagles 14-3 to reach this Class 2A baseball sectional final.
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Panthers upset Tigers in sectional
Elwood used a seven-run third-inning to stun Alexandria 11-5 and advance to the semifinals of the Class 2A baseball sectional at Eastern.
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Shenandoah bows out with loss to Wapahani
Wapahani’s Red Raiders advanced to the championship game of the Class 2A Frankton Baseball Sectional with a 7-2 win over Shenandoah.
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