Basketball begins
In a drill at practice, Ashley Holmes snags a rebound while Diamond Ladeaux cuts to an open spot on the floor for a jump-shot and Kelsi Beagley watches from the sideline.
Ashley Thompson practices shooting with her left hand.
Coach Richard Griffin instructs Jessica Hansen on her free-throw technique.
Kelsi Beagley tries to wrap a pass around the stingy defense played by Nikki Kunzer.
As practice began last week, the Trotters were eager to turn the page on last year’s 3-17 record. Exactly what this new chapter of basketball will hold for Plains, however, has yet to be written.
Luckily, the Trotters, and their new coach, understand that success can’t always be measured in terms of numbers, and that having so many new faces can have as many advantages as disadvantages.
“I always tell the girls that the win loss record doesn’t matter as long as you know that you’ve given everything you had out there,” first-year head coach Griffin said. “Sometimes the other team is just better than us, but we’ll get back to practice and we’ll work even harder.”
Griffin and his assistant coach Matt Biehl, believe that turning around a program involves more than what occurs on the hard-wood in between whistles.
“We try to act our best and play our hardest to represent the community as best we can,” Griffin said. “I always preach to the team, every girl from kindergarten all the way up to senior wants to be a Trotter.”
Under most circumstances, having to field a team containing two seniors, and only one returning starter would be considered a disadvantage, but considering Griffin’s new approach to the game, it simply means there are fewer habits that need to be un-learned.
“We have only two girls with real varsity experience. Other than that everyone is coming into it from JV,” Griffin said. “We have pretty a even eight to ten girls. So we’ll be adjusting weekly on what the match-ups of the other teams bring to us.”
23 players in all came out for Trotter basketball this year, and although that doesn’t sound like enough to field three teams, Plains will have a Varsity, JV and C-team. Griffin believes that the more playing time each girl receives the better she will get and the better his program will be in the long run.
Kayla Revier, the Trotters only returning starter, and Kelsey Beagley will have to supply the veteran leadership that is otherwise lacking on such a young roster. On top of that, Beagley will have to face the pressure of replacing former Plains stand-out Heather Earhart at point guard.
“I feel Kelsey Beagley will be able to fill it,” Griffin said. “She’s stepped right in there and for us and is doing a good job.”
Malena Sweet, a transfer student from Libby, and Laurel Danhoff both saw limited action at the varsity level last year and figure to be prominent fixtures in the rotation.
Although this is Griffins first experience as a varsity head coach, he served on former coach Walt Hermiston’s staff for the last three years and has spent four seasons as the middle school coach. Griffin’s coaching experience has given him a clear sense of where he wants to take the Trotters in his debut season.
“I need to get the girls working together,” he said. “We’re building a foundation and since I’m a new coach, new ideas are being implemented so getting all that done here in the beginning so they know where I’m coming from as a coach and I know where they’re at as their coach.”
Like any team early in the season, the Trotters’ practices have contained a healthy dose of conditioning.
“I believe working hard in practice will make you successful in games, and working hard helps you stay focused and committed to the team,” Griffin said.
Griffin feels that one of most important tasks instilling confidence in his team: confidence in themselves, a new system and a new coach.
“I feel that we can get to divisionals. I think that’s a good expectation for us. We’ve got to get the winning attitude back,” he said. “I definitely think that the assistant coach and I are excited for the girls and I think it’s going be a good season.”