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Up tempo offense and D key to Lady Owls' season
By SARA EDDY OKERLUND
Special to The Era
After the Lady Owls force the tempo and push the ball up the floor for easy baskets, they’re going to get back, slap the floor and D it up.
That’s the plan for the 2008-09 season according to head coach Doug Lloyd, who’s entering his seventh season with Bradford High School’s girls basketball program.
“Our games are going to be constant 32 minutes of hard defense and pushing the ball up the floor,” Lloyd declared. “We’re going to wear some teams out.”
Every team looks to its letterwinners for leadership and that group for the Lady Owls this year includes Katelyn Morris, a 5-8 senior forward; Michele Keane, a 5-5 junior forward; Erica Siffrinn, a 5-4 junior guard; Brittni Wiseman, a 5-4 junior guard; and Nicole Teribery, a 5-6 sophomore guard.
“Katelyn is a great rebounder and she has to be a big inside presence for us this year,” Lloyd said. “She has worked hard over the summer. It is her senior year, so she has to provide leadership and we’re going to look for a lot of inside scoring from her.
“Michele started most of the games last year and this year we expect even more out of her,” Lloyd stated. “She has to play big inside, yet be able to go outside and score. She is a small forward who has to play big. Her athleticism will be her strength.
“Erica is a very tenacious defender,” Lloyd continued. “She goes non-stop when she’s in the game and does a great job defending the other teams’ best offensive players. This year we need her to be more aggressive offensively. She is a slashing-type guard “ she can hit the outside shot, she just needs to have a little more confidence in it.”
“Brittni missed half of last season with an injury, but worked hard over the summer,” the coach pointed out. “She has a great shot and a great attitude. She is a hustler who works hard all the time. She’s our best shooter and has to hit the outside shot for us.
“Nicole is our best ball handler and will probably be our point guard,” Lloyd said. “She will have to run the team. She’s a good defensive player and knows how to play the game.”
When Lloyd says, “We aren’t big overall, but we do have some size,” he’s talking about, in particular, 6-0 senior forward Theresa Skillman.
“We expect Theresa to get a lot of rebounds for us and get inside scoring,” Lloyd declared. “She will change the look of our team if we can go big with her and Katelyn. Theresa has improved quite a bit during her high school career. We need her to be a defensive presence inside.”
Bradford’s style of play will require fresh legs and Lloyd says the 2008-09 squad can go eight or nine players deep to meet that need.
“We have a team this year that can change its look a lot, we have a lot of good players,” Lloyd observed. “We have a lot of depth in the program, so it is tough to say who will start every night. Whoever works the hardest in practice will probably start.”
Also vying for those spots are Courtney Bassani, a 5-5 senior forward; Kylie Hannon, a 5-9 center; Megan Race, a 5-7 junior forward; Jessie Mascho, a 5-3 junior guard; Jodie Irons, a 5-7 sophomore forward from whom Lloyd “expects a lot from this year;” Tricia Ekas, a 5-9 sophomore forward; Megan Barnes, a 5-9 sophomore forward/center; Caroline Morris, a 5-7 sophomore forward; Jessica Martin, a 5-5 sophomore guard; and Suzi Sager, a 5-8 sophomore forward/center.
“Courtney has to play some defense,” Lloyd said. “If someone’s on a run, she has to come in and stop them.
“Kylie is a good post player who can come in and rebound. Megan is in her third year with the program and is a pretty good shooter and Jessie is a hustling guard who’s not afraid to mix it up with anybody.
“Jodie has a lot of potential,” the coach stated. “She’s very athletic, she’s a pretty good shooter, isn’t afraid to put the ball up and is a good defender.”
Of the sophomore group Lloyd said, “They’re going to get some playing time. They’ll play JV and must learn to play at the varsity level, too. Any given night there could be four sophomores in the game.
Overall, Lloyd said, “We have to play very well as a team. “We don’t have superstars, but we have a lot of good players. If we can come together and play as a team I believe we’ll do a lot better than people think.”
As a team, the Lady Owls learned there is no shape like basketball shape as they prepared to bring an up-tempo pace and unceasing and persistent defense to their season opener today.
Lloyd said, “We’ve been doing a lot of running and conditioning.”
Bradford faces host Franklin at 7 p.m. today in the first round of the Franklin Tip-Off Tournament. In the other opener, Corry and Upper St. Clair square off at 4 p.m. Saturday’s schedule has the consolation game at 2:30 p.m. and the title tilt at 6 p.m.
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