Team Preview: McClain Lady Tigers
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Of the 10 players who will be full-time varsity sophomore Tara Karnes also returns from last season, along with new faces in sophomores Caitlyn Lovett and Katy Unger and freshman Shania Massie.
One wrinkle on the roster for the Lady Tigers is their lack of juniors, with none in the entire high school program this season.
"We have a good senior class that have played together for a long time," Overstake said. "We have players who can play multiple positions and players who not only work hard, but help each other, too.
"A key to overcoming some of our overall numbers is staying out of foul trouble. Right now we have kids going both ways (on reserve and varsity) so we can't afford any injuries, or dumb fouls where we have to start looking at how many quarters we played someone in the reserve game to how many we can play them in varsity because of foul trouble."
Overstake, who is entering the 2011-12 season with an career coaching overall record of 475-192 in what will be his 31st year as a head coach (34th total overall at McClain), knows his team does have a few points where they need to keep improving as the season continues, one including finding players to take over roles of seniors from last season.
The seniors from last year (Chrissy Cobb, Megan Hogle, Frankie Wise) scored a combined 21 points per game, including Cobb, who at guard also tallied 3.2 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game and 3.6 steals per game.
"We need players to step up and score," Overstake said. "They need to replace the 21 ppg lost to graduation. We have a lack of numbers with only 15 girls total for reserve and varsity."
One of the players who will most likely be looked upon to fill in one of the top scoring roles is Perie. Perie, a post player, was the second-highest scorer last season with 164 points (8.2 ppg). She shot 56.4 percent from the free-throw line (44-of-78) and 47.2 percent from the field (60-of-127). Not including 3-point attempts, Perie shot 50 percent.
"Jenna is one of those kids where she has a nose for the ball. She does a lot of things that won't show up in the box score a lot of times," Overstake said. "She makes things happen … when she catches the ball, other kids start moving, and she gets them the ball. We can work off her a lot and hopefully score a bunch of points if someone tries to key in on just stopping her."
Crabtree totaled 123 points for the Lady Tigers last year, and Rooks, who plays at point guard, scored 100 points last season. The feat was special in itself as she missed time one year ago due to injury, as those two, along with Perie, give MHS three of their top five scorers back from their 15-win campaign.
With a mix of last year's starters and bench players now making up the core lineup for MHS, the preseason has been important.
"When you have six seniors coming back, with the experience they have, it makes things easier, especially in practice to go through things. They are helping the younger kids understand things on the different offenses and defenses," Overstake said. "That makes our coaching job a little bit easier when you have those six out there that supposedly know what they’re doing all the time."
The 31-year varsity head coach spoke about the younger players this season and how their roles will develop throughout the season.
"It’s going to be the time it takes for them to mature … especially the ones playing reserve and varsity. They'll have to know the difference it takes to play at the varsity level than at the reserve level," Overstake said. "Again, the seniors are helping them along with that. The scrimmages this year will help a great deal in getting to understand the level of competition."
Though MHS will replace some on offense Overstake likes the prospects of the Lady Tigers' defense, which has been a staple of their success over the past three decades.
"Defensively, we should be pretty good," he said. "They are well-versed on what they are supposed to do. We have to understand being in a certain position on the floor, and talking is key to how well our defense is going to be."
Overall team height could be an issue throughout the season for MHS as just one player (Karnes) is 6-0 or taller.
"We are basically we're going to go with the same situation we've had in the past by using two post players, two guards and a wing player to have the best five players out on the floor," Overstake said. "With Tara out there we can move Jenna to the win and create opportunities. We can put a decent sized lineup out there if we need to. It's just our (taller) players aren't as tall as other teams."
With their current group the Lady Tigers should have a good opportunity to compete at a high level in the South Central Ohio League.
"The league will be strong," Overstake said. "Many players are returning, and all seven coaches are back. Clinton-Massie has two tall sophomores who were a part of very good junior high teams. Miami Trace (the eight-time defending champions) have a lot of kids coming back to fill their starting spots.
"Washington has some good players back and Madison-Plains has a good core returning. Hillsboro has a young group of talented freshman, and London has a talented group as well."[[In-content Ad]]
One wrinkle on the roster for the Lady Tigers is their lack of juniors, with none in the entire high school program this season.
"We have a good senior class that have played together for a long time," Overstake said. "We have players who can play multiple positions and players who not only work hard, but help each other, too.
"A key to overcoming some of our overall numbers is staying out of foul trouble. Right now we have kids going both ways (on reserve and varsity) so we can't afford any injuries, or dumb fouls where we have to start looking at how many quarters we played someone in the reserve game to how many we can play them in varsity because of foul trouble."
Overstake, who is entering the 2011-12 season with an career coaching overall record of 475-192 in what will be his 31st year as a head coach (34th total overall at McClain), knows his team does have a few points where they need to keep improving as the season continues, one including finding players to take over roles of seniors from last season.
The seniors from last year (Chrissy Cobb, Megan Hogle, Frankie Wise) scored a combined 21 points per game, including Cobb, who at guard also tallied 3.2 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game and 3.6 steals per game.
"We need players to step up and score," Overstake said. "They need to replace the 21 ppg lost to graduation. We have a lack of numbers with only 15 girls total for reserve and varsity."
One of the players who will most likely be looked upon to fill in one of the top scoring roles is Perie. Perie, a post player, was the second-highest scorer last season with 164 points (8.2 ppg). She shot 56.4 percent from the free-throw line (44-of-78) and 47.2 percent from the field (60-of-127). Not including 3-point attempts, Perie shot 50 percent.
"Jenna is one of those kids where she has a nose for the ball. She does a lot of things that won't show up in the box score a lot of times," Overstake said. "She makes things happen … when she catches the ball, other kids start moving, and she gets them the ball. We can work off her a lot and hopefully score a bunch of points if someone tries to key in on just stopping her."
Crabtree totaled 123 points for the Lady Tigers last year, and Rooks, who plays at point guard, scored 100 points last season. The feat was special in itself as she missed time one year ago due to injury, as those two, along with Perie, give MHS three of their top five scorers back from their 15-win campaign.
With a mix of last year's starters and bench players now making up the core lineup for MHS, the preseason has been important.
"When you have six seniors coming back, with the experience they have, it makes things easier, especially in practice to go through things. They are helping the younger kids understand things on the different offenses and defenses," Overstake said. "That makes our coaching job a little bit easier when you have those six out there that supposedly know what they’re doing all the time."
The 31-year varsity head coach spoke about the younger players this season and how their roles will develop throughout the season.
"It’s going to be the time it takes for them to mature … especially the ones playing reserve and varsity. They'll have to know the difference it takes to play at the varsity level than at the reserve level," Overstake said. "Again, the seniors are helping them along with that. The scrimmages this year will help a great deal in getting to understand the level of competition."
Though MHS will replace some on offense Overstake likes the prospects of the Lady Tigers' defense, which has been a staple of their success over the past three decades.
"Defensively, we should be pretty good," he said. "They are well-versed on what they are supposed to do. We have to understand being in a certain position on the floor, and talking is key to how well our defense is going to be."
Overall team height could be an issue throughout the season for MHS as just one player (Karnes) is 6-0 or taller.
"We are basically we're going to go with the same situation we've had in the past by using two post players, two guards and a wing player to have the best five players out on the floor," Overstake said. "With Tara out there we can move Jenna to the win and create opportunities. We can put a decent sized lineup out there if we need to. It's just our (taller) players aren't as tall as other teams."
With their current group the Lady Tigers should have a good opportunity to compete at a high level in the South Central Ohio League.
"The league will be strong," Overstake said. "Many players are returning, and all seven coaches are back. Clinton-Massie has two tall sophomores who were a part of very good junior high teams. Miami Trace (the eight-time defending champions) have a lot of kids coming back to fill their starting spots.
"Washington has some good players back and Madison-Plains has a good core returning. Hillsboro has a young group of talented freshman, and London has a talented group as well."[[In-content Ad]]