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Season Preview: Varsity Girls Basketball
The Lady Indians varsity basketball team is staring down what promises to be a very special season. The girls return a large portion of last year's Sweet 16 team, and many of the younger players that emerged last year are even better this time around.
It starts with All-Region players senior Katy Corbett, along with sophomores Denika Lightbourne and Veronaye Charlton.
"We only lost two players to graduation, so we are bringing back a strong nucleus from last year's team," states coach Brandy Corbett. "We have even expanded our program this year and been able to add a JV team."
Lightbourne (13 points per game), Charlton (10.5) and Corbett (10.4) were the leading scorers from last year's team. Three of the top four rebounders are back in Lightbourne (6.2 per game), Corbett (6) and senior Abby Carlan (4.9). All the pieces are there for TFS to set some high goals for 2020-21.
"This year we would like to win a region championship," says Corbett, who knows it would be a first for TFS to accomplish that goal. "We would like to make a third consecutive appearance to the Sweet Sixteen also. This might prove to be more challenging than ever, since Region 8-A Private will match up with Regions 5-A Private in the first round of the state tournament. In the initial GHSA Class A-Private Rankings, four of the top six teams for girls basketball are in Region 5-A."
The Lady Indians also seek a third straight winning season. The schedule contains more opponents from higher classifications and some high-ranking Class 1A-Private teams. The tough schedule is only going to make the girls stronger for the stretch run.
Last season, TFS started two freshmen (Lightbourne and Charlton) and still ended up going 17-8.
"Going into this season, it is great that we know one another, we have a greater understanding of our base offensive and defensive sets, and we have a year of experience together under our belts," adds Corbett.
While Katy Corbett, Lightbourne, Charlton and Carlan are all expected to play major roles, there are others who could be primed for a big season also.
"We have been very pleasantly surprised at the progress some of our players have made since last season," states Corbett. "Carlan and junior Barrett Whitener, along with Katy [Corbett], are still working on transitioning from volleyball to basketball. Senior Iray Adeleke has looked really good in practice thus far, and we have been very impressed with how well Kailyn Neal is shooting the ball here at the beginning of the season. Freshman Molly Mitchell, is doing a great job of transitioning from the middle school game to high school game."
Overall, Corbett feels that the team has about 12 players that will get varsity minutes this year. That will be as important as ever, as the team's offensive and defensive strategies hinge on having some depth off the bench.
"We hope to continue to be able to play a fast-paced game, where we apply a lot of pressure defensively in full-court and half-court situations," says Corbett. "We would like for this to result in breakdowns for our opponents so that we can get steals and score in transition. It is always our goal for our defense to be our offense. We believe our depth this year could allow us to apply pressure more consistently throughout our games. I would like to see us work on finishing our lay-ups and short shots, increasing our free throw percentage, being wiser with our shot selections, and learning how to play 32 good, solid minutes of basketball without significant lulls in our performance."
No doubt something special is in store for the Lady Indians, who tip off the season officially on Friday, November 20 at home against Pinecrest.