Plains Trotters to be tough force on court

PLAINS – The Trotters have been gaining confidence throughout their practices and according to Head Coach Richard Griffin, the girls are getting used to handling a basketball again.

In all, Plains has 17 girls – all of which are excited and ready to get the season rolling.

Another young team in the mix of Sanders County teams, the team has two returning starters and eight returning varsity players.

“We’re young, don’t get me wrong. We have nine sophomores and five of those guys are going to see varsity time. They’re young but they had plenty of time last year especially,” Coach Griffin explained.

The goal is to get the team to compete as one cohesive unit. Coach Griffin said it is not important who has strong performances – the important part is working as a team.

“I expected them all to do well. Somebody different may have a good game every night but it doesn’t matter who it is, it matters that everyone is getting along and being a team,” Coach Griffin said.

He said he has a lot of good, quality athletes on the team this year and overall, they should work together well.

The team has been working on ball handling, defensive strategies and getting comfortable with the ball under pressure – something that is important in the heat of the moment.

Because many of the girls already have experience, Coach Griffin said practices are running smoothly.

“I don’t have to spend a whole lot of time getting them motivated to work hard because they know what I expect and they know the drills already so they jump right in there,” Coach Griffin said. “We are able to work on more things in less time because they are familiar with it.”

Griffin also coaches the junior high team so many of the girls have already had him as a coach for two years.

“We have a lot of the same terminology and they understand it.” Coach Griffin said.

As the season begins to progress, Griffin said he is now demanding perfection.

“If you can’t do little things right (now) then we aren’t going to do them right (during a game) and it’ll affect the outcomes of our games,” Coach Griffin said.

The team is working hard and he explained they know that now is the time to get serious about their game.

The Trotters will go up against Noxon for their first game and he said the Lady Red Devils have lost a couple of their key players from last year. However, he said the team has a good coach in place so he is unsure of what to expect from the young ladies.

He went on to say the Lady Hawks would be a good matchup for his team, although all the competition will be fierce.

“It should be a classic Sanders County battle between all the teams. It will be good to see where we are at because you put that first two and a half weeks in and the games will tell you what you need to work on,” Coach Griffin said.

Troy and Bigfork will be next on their calendar – both conference games. The game against Troy will take place at home on Friday December 20 and Bigfork will be away on December 21.