South Gibson Star-Times

Local Tuesday, November 29, 2022 South Gibson Star-Times B-10 Haubstadt 812.768.5207 Poseyville 812.270.4405 Oakland City 812.999.3070 Vincennes 812.882.1141 Physical and Occupational Therapy You Have Direct Access In most cases, you do not need a referral from a provider If you have pain or an injury, give us a call Henderson County (Ken- tucky) and Evansville North in regular season action. In addition to the confer- ence schedule and the rugged non-conference docket, the "original" Toyota Classic re- turns to Gibson County over the Christmas Holiday break with five teams joining the three Gibson County high schools on both the boys' and the girls' side to provide a 16-team tournament with an eight-team event for both boys and girls that provided high school basketball at its best prior to the pandemic. The Lady Titans have Silver Creek, Sullivan, and Edgewood in their side of the bracket, while the other side will have Princeton, Wood Memorial, Barr-Reeve, and Mt. Carmel. Without question, the Gibson Southern side of the bracket is loaded. There cannot be a tough- er non-conference schedule in Indiana, and the PAC is a gauntlet in itself. Still, the Lady Titans will not be hunting for victories with a switch, as they will have five of their top six bullets in their gun, but they will be ver y thin after that, with only six players listed on the varsity-only ros- ter for 2022-23. Chloey Graham, a 5'9" ju- nior, led Gibson Southern in scoring (16.9), free throw percentage (81.4 percent), three-point field percentage (39.3 percent), was second in overall field goal percentage (47.2 percent), and third in rebounding, pulling in 3.6 car- oms a night from her guard spot as a sophomore in 2021- 22. She led the team in steals with 2.3 thefts a game. Sophomore Gabby Spink, a 5'9" point guard, put home 13.9 counters a contest last year as a freshman, but the backcourt ace will be out of action with an injur y until at least after the Thanksgiving break. Spink led the team in as- sists with 4.5 a game, while connecting on 74.2 percent of her free throw attempts and coming up 2.1 steals a fray. She was second on the squad in three-point field goal shoot- ing (36.4 percent). Senior Alexis Tucker, a 5'10" center, tossed in 11.1 points per outing a year ago as a junior. She also pulled in 5.6 rebounds in 2021-22 to finish second on the team in rebounding. Tucker led the team in field goal percentage, canning 57.4 percent of her shot attempts. Ava Weisheit, a 5'9" senior, led the Lady Titans in re- bounding in 2021-22, grabbing 7.0 caroms a game as a junior. Weisheit was fourth on the team in scoring, pumping in 8.6 markers a battle. Sophomore Ally Malone, a 5'4" guard, was the first play- er off the bench as a sopho- more in 2021-22, but she will be expected to be on the floor from the opening tip in 2022- 23. Malone was instant excite- ment when she entered the game last season. Whether it was scoring a quick hoop, getting a steal, or grabbing a rebound, she made some- thing happen immediately, and without question, she will be a factor from the beginning this season. Sophomore Nola Ravellette, a 5'8" wing, saw quality min- utes as a freshman last sea- son, and she will be counted on to move up in the rotation for even more quality minutes this year. She has the ability to score, rebound, and defend, and she has the potential to play a huge role in the success of the 2022-23 edition of Lady Titan Basketball. Juniors Makenna Turner, a 5'10" post player, and Jenna Loyd, a 5'8" wing, will both be counted upon for important minutes this season, and both could be called on early and often. There are 24 Lady Titans in the program for 2022-23, with two seniors, four juniors, six sophomores, and 12 freshmen vying for spots on the varsity, junior varsity, and freshman teams. "I admit that I don't believe any 3A school has a tougher schedule than we do," said Coach Brasher in a pre-season inter view three weeks ago, "but I think the schedule we have put together will make us better at the end of the season to prepare us for post-season tournament play. "I do believe that our big- gest challenge through Christ- mas will be our overall inexpe- rience at the varsity level. "Although we do have four starters back, and Ally (Malone) was first off the bench, only sophomore Nola Ravellette has any real varsity playing time after those five. "I believe we have quality players who will be up from a ver y good junior varsity, but we basically played an eight- girl rotation last year, with our three seniors, the four returning starters, and Ally, along with Nola getting some minutes the second semester. "That leaves us with just six players with any real varsity experience, which could leave us ver y thin if we lose anyone to injuries or illness. However, we think with experience, we will have excellent depth after Christmas. "We feel really good about our program overall. "Graham has continued to get even better. She has worked ver y hard in the off-season to improve ever y facet of her game, from shoot- ing to rebounding to defense to ball handling, she has just gotten better. "Spink has also gotten bet- ter in all aspects of her game, and her experience last year as a freshman has matured her well beyond the usual sophomore; however, she sustained a stress fracture pri- or to our season opener and will be out until at least after Thanksgiving. "Malone is another who has improved her entire game over the off-season. She is re- ally going to add another di- mension to our team on both the offensive end and the de- fensive end of the floor. She is going to be fun to watch with her all-out relentless efforts on both ends of the floor." "Weisheit is coming off the ACL injur y that she sustained in the sectional final that kept her out of the regional; but she has worked hard to rehab her knee, and we think she will be ready." "The doctor has cleared her to play, and she has looked ver y good in our first two weeks of practice. Brasher sees Forest Park, North Posey, South Spen- cer, and Washington, along with his Lady Titans as the favorites in the PAC, but he cautioned that any team in the conference could win a game on any given night. Consequently, he sees ever y game as a challenge each time GSHS takes the court. "Obviously, we have our work cut out for us, but we are ver y excited about the coming season. We have some ver y good players back and some ver y good players up from last year's JV", said Brasher. "We believe we will be ver y com- petitive this year each time we take the floor." "We look for ward to the sea- son." Brasher, in his fifth year as head coach for the Lady Ti- tans, has posted an amazing 77-22 record in his first four seasons on the sidelines for Gibson Southern. He will be assisted by Ron Kahle, Anna Hackert, and Kelsie Linnewe- ber. Obviously, we have our work cut out for us, but we are very excited about the coming sea- son. We have some very good players back and some very good players up from last year's JV. We believe we will be very competitive this year each time we take the floor." Coach Kyle Brasher CHALLENGE Continued from page 2 SEASON REWIND

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