ASSUMPTION
- Coach: Amy Siegel (third year).
- Last season: 12-17, lost to Manual, 55-33, in the first round of the Seventh Region Tournament.
- Player to watch: Kristen Olinick. The 5-11 senior forward, who is entering her third season as a starter, averaged 6.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season. Siegel calls Olinick, “one of the toughest competitors that you will ever see. Kristen is a ‘team first’ type of player and she makes everyone around her better. She can defend any position on the floor and her athleticism makes her a tough match-up offensively.”
- Other top players: G Samantha Babey (5-9, Jr.; 3 ppg, 2.3 rpg); G-F Piper Gray (6-0, Sr.; 6.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg); G Taylor Allen (5-9, Jr.; 5.2 ppg); G Jenna Calhoun (5-8, Sr.; 2.1 ppg).
- Outlook: “We are still young, but we have grown tough and resilient,” Siegel says. “Our personal expectations have been elevated and we will expect to compete with everyone on our schedule. We play a very physical and intense style of basketball and we are not intimidated by any opponent. As we continue to develop as a team we will rely on our chemistry and physical conditioning to help us earn a significant win this season.”
BROWN
- Coach: Stacy Pendleton (first year).
- Last season: 9-17, lost to Male, 60-20, in the 26th District Tournament semifinals.
- Player to watch: Pendleton says 5-8 sophomore center Madison Cockroft, who averaged 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season, “should have a big year for us. She is a very long athletic scorer and will have a big year.”
- Other top players: F-C Sydney Houseal (5-9, Sr.; 3.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg); G Jada McNeill (5-6, Sr.; 3 ppg, 2.7 rpg); G Fatima Abdur-Rahman (5-6, Jr.; 4.6 ppg); C Hanna Corus (5-10, So.; 5.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg); G Sydney Johnson (5-2, Fr.; 5.3 ppg); F Lexi Henderson (5-8, Fr.; 4.5 ppg).
- Outlook: “I am excited to be back in coaching,” says Pendleton, who guided Manual to the 2012 state championship. “We return all 10 varsity players from a nine-win season last year. The players have been amazing to work with and are embracing the new challenges of me as their coach.”
COLLEGIATE
- Coach: Gerard Mattingly (first year).
- Last season: 5-17, lost to Assumption, 60-10, in the 26th District Tournament semifinals.
- Player to watch: Haylee Wright. The 5-8 freshman wing averaged six points and eight rebounds last season as an eighth-grader.
- Other top players: G Sophie Call (5-6, Jr.); F Caroline Doyle (5-9, Jr.); G Trinitie Sutton (5-5, Fr.), G Laila Hayes-Walker (5-9, 8th).
- Outlook: Mattingly, a former assistant at Assumption, Manual and Mercy, says he hopes to take that experience and “lay a solid foundation to build a special program.” He adds that he’s “looking to employ an aggressive, fast-paced style of play.” The Amazons have “a good mix of players with great attitudes and work ethic, but limited varsity playing experience,” Mattingly says. “(We’re) looking to improve over the course of the season.”
MALE
- Coach: Champ Ligon (fourth year).
- Last season: 29-3, lost to Manual, 64-47, in Seventh Region Tournament final.
- Player to watch: Emilia Sexton. The 5-4 junior guard was second on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg) last year as she made the all-region first team for the second straight season.
- Other top players: F Logan Calvert (5-11, Sr., 7.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg); G Ciaja Harbison (5-5, Jr., 8 ppg, 2.9 rpg); C Cameron Browning (6-1, So.; 7.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg); F Kyra Hogan (5-11, Sr.; 4 ppg, 5 rpg); F India Green (5-9, Jr.; 10 ppg); F Jada Owens (5-7, Sr., 2.6 ppg).
- Outlook: The Bulldogs, who are 55-8 over the past two seasons, lost region player of the year I’Liyah Green (13.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg) to graduation. However they return just about every other key contributor from last season and Green’s younger sister, India, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game last year. “We have the chance to very good again if our girls are willing to put the team ahead of themselves, improve their defense and rebounding and take care of the basketball,” Ligon says.