Team Preview: Can Lady Mustangs make repeat appearance in district round?
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
After being stunned in the fourth quarter of their district semifinal game last season, the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs are ready to get back to the court and use that experience to their advantage for the 2014-15 season.
The Lady Mustangs lost to South Point by a score of 46-40 in the Division III District Semifinals to end last season, but even in defeat, LC showed they have a lot to offer this upcoming season.
"We are excited to get started with the season. This offseason and throughout the summer, we really tried to focus on getting better as a team," LC head coach Whitney Lewis said. "With only losing one senior from last year, we had a lot of returning players that were anxious to get better throughout the summer.
"Most of our players play a fall sport, and our soccer team had another dominant season that almost took them to state. That pushes the basketball season back a bit, but the girls come in and are excited to start practice and get basketball started. They know how to win and I think that helps transition over to basketball as well."
The team this season consists of two seniors, six juniors and four sophomores. Seniors are Morgan Fittro and Caitlin Davidson, while the junior class consists of Emily Roush, Ali Little, Vanessa Thiel, Madison Wills, Marissa Mitchell and Bailey Leininger.
Sophomores are Shelby Chisman, Lexi Waits, Hannah Binkley and McKayla Binkley.
LC ended last year with a 16-7 overall record and lost just one senior in Sarah Rosselott, who was a big part of the LC program.
"We did lose Sarah from last year’s squad, and I don’t think you can replace seniors on a team, no matter who they are," Lewis said. "Everyone has a role, and when a senior leaves, someone else doesn’t replace them, the players left just play that much better in their own role.
"I expect many of our players this year to continue to play at a high level as they did last year and improve in their game and roles for the team."
[[In-content Ad]]If LC can replace the production lost with the graduation of Rosselott (10.8 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game), and the rest of the young players from last year take the next step, then they can be a very dangerous team in not only the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, but in the entire Southeast District.
With the exception of Rosselott, LC has all of their leading scorers returning to the team this season with at least one season of varsity experience under their belt. Leading LC in scoring last season was Hannah Binkley, who will be a sophomore for the '14-15 campaign.
Binkley in 24 games averaged 11.2 ppg, with 2.8 rpg and 2.6 assists per game. She shot 38.7 percent from the field and just over 38 percent from beyond the arc.
Also be on the lookout for Ali Little. Being a junior this season, Little is coming off a year where she averaged 9.1 ppg and a team-high 8.3 rpg, as she'll be a big presence in the post for LC.
"Ali Little comes in as our top post player from last year, and she has really stepped up her level of play through the summer and in preseason," Lewis said. "Most of our sophomores played heavy varsity minutes last year and will benefit from that experience in their second year."
McKayla Binkley and Morgan Fittro were the fourth and fifth leading scorers for LC last year. Binkley averaged 6.8 ppg (4.5 rpg), and Fittro had 6.3 ppg with each player playing in 24 games one year ago.
"Morgan Fittro is one of our seniors with four years of varsity experience," Lewis said. "Her hard-nosed work ethic and defense will keep us in a lot of games alone, and I expect her to perform well for us this season. Our junior class will have a strong year as well."
With all of that said, Lewis and her team are prepared and just ready to get back to game situations and get the season started, so they can compete to achieve the goals they've set out to obtain.
"Overall, we always look to improve from where we were previously. Having said that, this is a new year, and even though we don’t have a lot of new faces, we face new challenges and opponents for the season," Lewis said.
"We are looking forward to playing our best basketball when it comes game time. I can’t wait to see how well this team does this year. We have high goals within the league and to advance in the tournament as well. For now, we are focusing on the beginning of the season and getting to the level that we know we are capable of."
The Lady Mustangs lost to South Point by a score of 46-40 in the Division III District Semifinals to end last season, but even in defeat, LC showed they have a lot to offer this upcoming season.
"We are excited to get started with the season. This offseason and throughout the summer, we really tried to focus on getting better as a team," LC head coach Whitney Lewis said. "With only losing one senior from last year, we had a lot of returning players that were anxious to get better throughout the summer.
"Most of our players play a fall sport, and our soccer team had another dominant season that almost took them to state. That pushes the basketball season back a bit, but the girls come in and are excited to start practice and get basketball started. They know how to win and I think that helps transition over to basketball as well."
The team this season consists of two seniors, six juniors and four sophomores. Seniors are Morgan Fittro and Caitlin Davidson, while the junior class consists of Emily Roush, Ali Little, Vanessa Thiel, Madison Wills, Marissa Mitchell and Bailey Leininger.
Sophomores are Shelby Chisman, Lexi Waits, Hannah Binkley and McKayla Binkley.
LC ended last year with a 16-7 overall record and lost just one senior in Sarah Rosselott, who was a big part of the LC program.
"We did lose Sarah from last year’s squad, and I don’t think you can replace seniors on a team, no matter who they are," Lewis said. "Everyone has a role, and when a senior leaves, someone else doesn’t replace them, the players left just play that much better in their own role.
"I expect many of our players this year to continue to play at a high level as they did last year and improve in their game and roles for the team."
[[In-content Ad]]If LC can replace the production lost with the graduation of Rosselott (10.8 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game), and the rest of the young players from last year take the next step, then they can be a very dangerous team in not only the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, but in the entire Southeast District.
With the exception of Rosselott, LC has all of their leading scorers returning to the team this season with at least one season of varsity experience under their belt. Leading LC in scoring last season was Hannah Binkley, who will be a sophomore for the '14-15 campaign.
Binkley in 24 games averaged 11.2 ppg, with 2.8 rpg and 2.6 assists per game. She shot 38.7 percent from the field and just over 38 percent from beyond the arc.
Also be on the lookout for Ali Little. Being a junior this season, Little is coming off a year where she averaged 9.1 ppg and a team-high 8.3 rpg, as she'll be a big presence in the post for LC.
"Ali Little comes in as our top post player from last year, and she has really stepped up her level of play through the summer and in preseason," Lewis said. "Most of our sophomores played heavy varsity minutes last year and will benefit from that experience in their second year."
McKayla Binkley and Morgan Fittro were the fourth and fifth leading scorers for LC last year. Binkley averaged 6.8 ppg (4.5 rpg), and Fittro had 6.3 ppg with each player playing in 24 games one year ago.
"Morgan Fittro is one of our seniors with four years of varsity experience," Lewis said. "Her hard-nosed work ethic and defense will keep us in a lot of games alone, and I expect her to perform well for us this season. Our junior class will have a strong year as well."
With all of that said, Lewis and her team are prepared and just ready to get back to game situations and get the season started, so they can compete to achieve the goals they've set out to obtain.
"Overall, we always look to improve from where we were previously. Having said that, this is a new year, and even though we don’t have a lot of new faces, we face new challenges and opponents for the season," Lewis said.
"We are looking forward to playing our best basketball when it comes game time. I can’t wait to see how well this team does this year. We have high goals within the league and to advance in the tournament as well. For now, we are focusing on the beginning of the season and getting to the level that we know we are capable of."