PENDLETON — It might not be readily apparent from looking at the statistics from a season ago, but Pendleton Heights does have some missing parts from a year ago.
Don’t think for a moment that anyone is going to feel any pity for Arabians coach Shari Doud or her program. After all, last year’s THB co-Players of the Year, Mur Hagerman and Hannah Douglas were both on Pendleton Heights team and both are returning.
Still Doud offers, “The graduating class left big shoes to fill in terms of intangibles. I’m not sure that Amanda Gaskin is replaceable on the defensive end.”
But when the starting five includes Hagerman, a senior and two-time THB Player of the Year, and Douglas, a junior, that’s not a bad place to start. The rest of the starting unit likely will include junior Jamie Hubble, sophomore Kelsey Hubble and freshman Kenzie Gustin.
Coming off the bench will be sophomore Courtney Sigler, sophomore Abbie Haffner and junior Molly Craig. Craig’s progress has been slowed by a bone bruise on her ankle suffered in volleyball.
“We are very guard oriented,” said Doud. “In our scrimmage (against Heritage Christian), we shot the ball extremely well. Every potential starter can shoot the 3-pointer.”
Lapel
Nobody has to fill holes like the Lapel Bulldogs.
“This is my first time in my 20 years of coaching that I haven’t had a single starter coming back,” said Bulldogs coach Kevin Brattain. “The expectation were so high the last few years that, from a coaching standpoint, it takes a lot out of you.”
The team will be anchored by senior Kourtney Allender, junior Leah Steele, junior Stephanie Miller and freshman Morgan Tarlton.
“Stephanie is probably has the best athletic ability of any female in the school,” said Brattain. “Our post player will probably be Tarlton. This is a rebuilding year. I can’t expect them to do things they can’t do. This is a completely different group of kids.”
Frankton
The Eagles’ first order of business this year will be replacing the inside presence and scoring of Lauren Hendricks, the 2009 winner of the Johnny Wilson Award.
“This year I think we’ll be much more balanced,” said Frankton coach Stephan Hamaker. “We have four scorers and I think we could see any one of the four be our leading scorer on a given night.”
Of the 11 players listed on the Eagles’ varsity roster, nine are returning lettermen. Mollie Hamilton is the most lethal returning outside shooter. “If you leave her open, she’ll knock down 3s,” said Hamaker. Bre Shively, Kaity Hall and Allison Parr are also scoring threats.
“We’re a little deeper this year,” said Hamaker. “I think the sky’s the limit for this team.”
Alexandria
The Tigers had a long regular season last year, going that entire stretch without a victory. But they did get a win in the sectional and they hope it is a launching pad for this season.
Obviously the team’s top scoring threat is Katie Fowler and she stands as one of the three seniors on the team.
She is a familiar face on the team but one well-known Tiger landmark is missing. Jon Howell has missed much of the team’s practice time due to an illness. That has left Tim Fowler and Tina Bolte to get the team ready.
“All the girls who were in the program last year know about what we went through,” said Bolte. “Last year the more we lost, the longer the practices and the harder they worked. But they never, never gave up and they kept improving. This year we have more talent and more understanding of what we want to get done. But we’re still far from the level where we want to be.”
Elwood
The Panthers are still a ways away from becoming a force in their conference and in Madison County.
Due to a variety of injuries and other circumstances, numbers are a problem. There are 10 players in the Elwood program so there will be no junior varsity team this year.
“It’s rough but the kids are really good kids,” said Elwood coach Candice Williams. “We’re not the most athletic team, but they have the potential to improve.”
There are no seniors on the Panthers roster and the returning letter-winner is sophomore Sara Phillips, who is the team captain. There are two juniors, three sophomores and the rest are freshmen.
“We are really talented in the middle school,” said Williams. “But our numbers are low there, too.”
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