The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/906097
The Press-Dispatch Winter Sports Preview Wednesday, November 22, 2017 E- 5 I think she led the confer- ence in steals her soph- omore year, by a pretty good margin. So I think she looks like she's get- ting back close to 100 per- cent – closer than what I'd thought she'd be." Stone, who missed her freshman year after suffer- ing a knee injury during a preseason practice that re- quired surgery, is expected to be a big contributor this season as well. "She's a kid that's just kind of like a rock," Mc- Cutchan said of the 5 -foot-6 Stone. "You know what you're going to get out of her, and that's what you want. She's always going to be a solid player, she has a nice shot and she's good in the post. So we want to play through her strengths as well." Croak will continue to shoulder a large part of the Lady Chargers' backcourt duties, McCutchan said. "She's one of our main ball handlers, maybe the smartest player we have, and a good passer," McCutchan said of the 5 -foot-7 Croak. "She likes to shoot, which is great. It's a strength of hers. But I'd also like to see her get the ball in the paint to get her teammates open – get on the block, post up – be- cause she's good in there." "She has some abilities that I don't think she's uti- lized to her full potential," McCutchan added. "And I'm hoping to get it out of her this year, because she can really help us." Burkhart returns in her role as a defensive special- ist who is often assigned to shut down an opponent's best guard. "Defense is her strength," McCutchan said of the 5 -foot-5 Burkhart. "She's not the tallest, not the fast- est, not the prototypical standup, but she's going to give you what she's got ev- ery single day. She's got to get better on offense, and she knows that. I preach that to her every day. But I know what I'm getting out of her on defense." The 5 -foot-9 Powers, meanwhile, provides some additional size for the Lady Chargers. "She is a very long, ath- letic kid and, I mean, just a great kid," McCutchan said. "She's not the most skilled kid in the world – she won't mind me telling you that – but she plays re- ally hard and she's coach- able. She wants to get bet- ter. She's one of those kids who will ask you questions all day long." "She's going to help us this year just with her length and her athleti- cism," McCutchan said. "We've just got to keep getting her more confi- dent and more comfort- able handling the basket- ball and shooting the bas- ketball. She's not going to be a three-point shooter for us, but if she can hit a mid- range shot or hit her free throws, she's going to help us quite a bit." Crow and Marchino, who both saw extensive playing time on the varsity level as sophomores, head up the junior class for the Lady Chargers. "Becca and Hailey played quite a bit of varsi- ty last year, and they're go- ing to be in the same role this year," McCutchan said of the 5 -foot-3 Crow and the 5 -foot-8 Marchino. "They're both good shoot- ers. They're probably two of our better shooters on the team, if they can just be consistent and take the Pictured above is the 2017-18 Pike Central High School girls' junior varsity basketball team. They are, first row, left to right: Mal- lory Hickey, Emily Carnahan, Kenzie Dunn, Kelsey Barrett and Kenzie Powell. Second row: Varsity Head Coach Kyle McCutchan, Gracie Jones, Kailee Mann, Jenna Horrall, Hannah Carnahan, Junior Varsity Coach Andrew Wibbeler and Varsity Assistant Coach Trent Whitehead. John Heuring photo Continued from page 4 HIGH For your homecare needs, call American Nursing Care! 812-354-2121 Visit us at: www.americannursingcare.com We have what no other homecare company has... 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"Hailey, she's is at her best when she's catch- ing and just taking a good quality shot, or being really physical on defense in the post," McCutchan added. "She's not the most athlet- ic, but she plays physical, blocks out and rebounds. She's just a natural type of scorer. She always finds herself around the ball with an opportunity to score." Crow will share the bulk of the team's backcourt duties with Croak, Mc- Cutchan said. "She's small, but she's quick," McCutchan said. "If teams press us, we've real- ly got to have her help us bring the ball up the floor. That was an issue we've had in the past. When teams pressed us, we real- ly struggled against it. But we have enough quickness and athleticism and ball handling that we should be able to handle pressure." "If you break a press pretty easily a couple of times quick, they're going to take it off," McCutchan said. "We've got to handle pressure, because, if not, the game can turn around quick and you can give up easy baskets going the oth- er way off turnovers." McCutchan said that the Carnahan twins – 5 -foot-6 Hannah and 5 -foot-4 Emily – will see action mainly at the junior varsity level this season. "They're going to give you what they've got," Mc- Cutchan said. "They're the smartest kids in the class- room and on the court. They're good solid play- ers." Despite undergoing sur- gery on both of her knees for ACL tears during her eighth grade and ninth grade years, the 5 -foot-4 Dunn is expected to be a scoring threat for the ju- nior varsity this season. "You can't keep her off the floor," McCutchan said. "She's torn her ACL two years in a row, but she's always all over the floor, she's after it. She's a very aggressive kid. She's going to give me what they have. She's another kid that you can push and challenge ev- ery day." Rounding out the junior class is Barrett. "She's working hard," McCutchan said of the 5 -foot-3 Barrett. "She's working on her skills. She's a soccer player – that's her main sport – but she's a good athlete. She's quick. She'll be mostly a JV play- er, but she's going to give Coach Wibbeler somebody who's athletic who can get out there and, hopefully, pressure the other team." Among the sophomores, both Nelson and Vaughn saw extensive playing time on the varsity level last year and are expected to play even bigger roles for the Lady Chargers this season, on both ends of the floor. "Lauren is long, ath- letic, and has very good hands," McCutchan said of the 5 -foot-8 Vaughn. "She tips more passes than I've seen. Brook, during her freshman year for me on JV, she'd get in the passing lanes and get steals, where Lauren tips a lot of passes." Nelson, meanwhile, is currently sidelined af- ter suffering a right an- kle sprain during the La- dy Chargers' season-open- ing 54-34 win over Evans- ville Reitz. "Jayln is strong, extreme- ly athletic," McCutchan said. "She has a nice shot. I'd like for her to get bet- ter on her handling, her dribbling. She's solid, but I think she has the ability she can be an all-confer- ence player, too. I think she has very high potential." Horrall has also been sidelined after suffering an ankle injury during soccer season this past fall. "We miss not having her right now," McCutchan said of the 5 -foot-9 Horrall. "She's pretty athletic. She's a smart kid. So, right now, while she can't do much, I said, 'Work on your jump shot.' That's something she's not confident with. We look forward to getting her back." The four freshmen – 5 -foot-4 Kenzie Powell, 5 -foot-6 Mallory Hickey, 5 -foot-7 Gracie Jones and 5 -foot-8 Kailee Mann – will see most of their ac- tion this season on the ju- nior varsity. "Every kid has the oppor- tunity," McCutchan said. "If you want to earn min- utes, it's up to you. It's not up to me. I think all four of them are going to be play- ers who are going to contin- ue to get better each year and help me on the varsi- ty level." "Kenzie's a good ball- handler, a good shot, a good decision maker," Mc- Cutchan said. "Mallory's another one who's a strong kid, nice post moves, has a nice shot. Gracie is a strong post player. We're trying to get her more aggressive on defense, but she's very good in the post. She's pow- erful. And Kailee is a lon- ger and athletic kid. She's working on her shot. She likes to attack the basket." McCutchan said that he expects that he'll be able to go 10 or 11 deep "comfort- able" this season. "I don't have a kid that I can't play," McCutchan said. "I have about 10 or 11 kids – especially when Jen- na gets back healthy – that at any time I can throw out there and we're not going to have a major drop off." "They just compete ev- ery day," McCutchan add- ed. "That's going to make us better. I think this is probably the most depth we've ever had at the var- sity level since I've been here." As a result, McCutchan said that the Lady Char- gers are expecting to have a successful season. "They have to believe they're going to win ev- ery time they step out on the floor," McCutchan said. "There's been times in the past when we've played some really good teams – you know, a Princeton with Jackie ( Young) or the Vin- cennes teams of the past few years who won back-to- back sectionals – you could tell. They'd be, like, 'Um, this is going to be a tough one.' They've just got to be- lieve that they can compete every time they step on the floor." "I think they're ready to go," McCutchan added. "I think they have high ex- pectations. I have high ex- pectations for them. And they're going to be pushed. They're probably going to be pushed harder than they ever had." Pike Central – which has not had a winning sea- son since 2007-08, when the Lady Chargers went 19 -5 – has its work cut out for it as seven of their op- ponents began the season ranked – Vincennes Lin- coln, Gibson Southern and Heritage Hills in 3A, North Knox in Class 2A and Wood Memorial, Barr-Reeve and Tecumseh in Class 1A. "We know it's going to be challenging," McCutchan said. "Basketball in this ar- ea is always good. You're just going to have a lot of good teams that are con- sistently good year in and year out." "It's all about having confidence in themselves, that they can compete," McCutchan said. "I think there's nobody out there who's going to dominate us physically. There are no Jackie Youngs on the schedule any more. She was a one-in-a-generation type player. We have some athletes who can play. It's just believing they can play against this competition." McCutchan is being as- sisted this year by varsi- ty assistant coach Trent Whitehead, junior varsi- ty coach Andrew Wibbel- er and volunteer assistant coach Tara Wornica. "I'm looking forward to it," McCutchan said. "I have high expectations. I know our coaches do, and our girls do. But the true test is when you face a little adversity, to see how they respond. We'll see when that gets here, but they're working really hard and I'm really proud of them so far." A FAN FAVORITE Joe Mama's Pizza JUNIOR VARSITY BASKETBALL GIRLS'