New coach prepares Lady Panthers for season

ALBERTON – As winter settles in, the Lady Panthers basketball team takes to the court in practice for the 2013-14 season.

According to Head Coach Hannah Anderson, so far the team looks great. There are 14 girls on the team this year. She feels the team has a lot of potential with a good age and skill spread. There are girls from every year of high school on the team and there is no real focus to an age group.

With how many girls are on the team, Anderson will be able to split the team into varsity and junior varsity this year. She said this helps give the girls more playing time, a goal she likes to achieve.

“Having two teams definitely helps having the most playing time for the girls,” said Anderson. “It gives them a chance to really develop their skills.”

So far, Anderson has worked with the team on drills and remind the girls of the skills used for the game. She said it is important to warm the team up after a break from sports. The majority of the girls on the team are veterans to high school athletics with many of the girls from the volleyball team. Most of the team this season has a background in basketball in some area, but the game uses different skills than volleyball.

It is not felt this will be a problem for the girls. Because most of the girls have played both sports, the differences between them should be expected. Between knowledge of the two games and training sessions, it should be easy to cope with the change in play style.

The girls have been hard at work in training. Anderson said she would probably work to condition the girls and try some new training tactics with them. So far, the team has kept up with the new arrangements.

“The girls know there’s a high expectation of them to try their hardest,” Anderson said. “I know the girls have been kind of sore the next day at school.”

The Lady Panthers are expected to have a good season this year. She felt the team was a good one and full of strong players. However, a better idea of how the team compares to the competition should be available after the first tournament next week.

Even though this has been her first year teaching and coaching at Alberton, Anderson has not encountered any difficulties working with the team. She watched the girls grow during volleyball season and looks forward to what basketball season brings. She is confident of the girl’s abilities and how the team will do this year.

Anderson has no expectations for how the season will go. Everyone on the team have good relationships with one another. So far, the team has worked well with each other and everyone has been very supportive of each other as teammates.

The team’s first games of the season will be at the Tiger Tail Tournament on Friday, December 13 and Saturday, December 14.