Lady ’ Jacks still a young team
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By Gary Fauber the register-herald
Second-year Richwood girls coach Chris Mullins didn ’ t mince words when asked how his first season went . “ Pretty rough ,” he said . A team made up completely of freshmen and sophomores struggled to a 6-15 season . Having a team that young made things difficult , Mullins said . Add to that injuries and off the court responsibilities and distractions and it was tough for all involved .
“ I didn ’ t have any senior leadership ,” he said . “( But ) it ’ s a little better this year . I don ’ t have any shooters . I ’ ve got some quick players and got a little bit of height .”
Mullins can at least draw a positive from the fact that , without a senior or junior he theoretically will have everyone back this season and next .
“ They seem to be functioning a little better and understanding ,” he said . “ It ’ s better this year . We ’ re doing a lot of team-oriented drills and trying a couple of zone offenses , one main offense . I didn ’ t press last year because I thought they were too young to do it because they had never done it before , but I found out real quick everybody presses so we might as well try it anyway .
“ They didn ’ t know how to break the press . Toward the end of the season they got a little better at it . and they
F . Brian Ferguson / For The Register-Herald
Richwood ’ s Carlee Dillard , bottom , attempts to pass the ball as Webster County ’ s Sydney Baird , top , defends Feb . 22 in Oak Hill .
seem to be doing all right with it this year .”
Mullins feels the team may struggle offensively from outside .
“ That ’ s why I ’ m hoping to break the press this year , and maybe steal the ball and get some layups ,” he said . “ We do a lot of shooting drills .”
One of the players leading the way will be junior point guard Baylee Jarrett .
“ She ’ s come a long way since last year ,” Mullins said . “ She ’ s got more basketball IQ . A floor general . She ’ s improved a lot from last year . She ’ s seeing the court a lot better and seeing what ’ s going on .”
Mullins did lament the lack of a solid feeder program . The only freshman this season is Jasmine Jantuah . and the players who were sophomore last year didn ’ t get to play much as freshmen on a senior-dominated team .
Junior Chloe Cox will start at the five . She averaged 6.0 points per game last season . Joining her in the starting lineup underneath will be junior Savanna Moose .
“ She ’ s got the ability and the smarts . She ’ s just got to stay focused ,” Mullins said . “ If she can stay focused and be in shape , she can dominate in the middle .”
At the two will be junior
Carlee Dillard . Addison Dudley , another junior , will be the three .
Jarrett and fellow junior Lilly Bragg averaged 3.0 ppg . Bragg will be the first player off the bench .
“ She came off the bench ( last season ),” Mullins said . “ Lilly ’ s probably my best 3-point shooter .”
Sophomores Alexis Keifer and Sophie Smalley will see significant minutes , Mullins said .
“ They ’ ve really improved a lot from last year ,” he said .
Rounding out the team are Morgan Stewart , Sarah Amick and Sophie Mullins .
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