Page 27 - 2018 TR Basketball Preview

THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE BASKETBALL PREVIEW | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2018
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WEST SIDE GREERS FERRY LADY EAGLES
New coach: Lack of depth may slow Lady Eagles
BY SAM PIERCE
STAFF WRITER
New head coach Megan Tutor said the
West Side Greers Ferry Lady Eagles are the hardest-working group of girls she has coached in her six years as a coach.
“I am a tough person to play for, and I am prob- ably tougher than the coach before,” Tutor said. “I am pretty hard-nosed, and I focus on defense — I like to get up in the offense.
“They played a lot of zone in the past but will probably play more man. Offensively, I am big on getting the ball inside to our bigs.
“I like my structure more than what they have had before.”
Tutor was the head girls basketball coach at Harmony Grove a year ago. She led the Lady Cardinals to a 16-15 record, but they lost in overtime in the first round of the regionals. Greers Ferry had a similar ending, losing in the first round of the regional tournament to Mount Vernon-Enola.
WEST SIDE GREERS FERRY EAGLES
ethic. She lives, breathes and eats basketball. She is not scared to take control.
“The girls just kind of look to her for that lead- ership, even though she is young. She was a huge game changer in their postseason games.”
Southerland, a forward, was West Side’s leading scorer inside and can “go right or left,” Tutor said. “Madison is probably one of our best ball han- dlers,” the coach said. “She can shoot it, and she is great in the open floor and finding the open man.
“She is also a great defender.”
Tutor said the biggest challenge this season will be the team’s depth. She said the team has only seven girls, so they will play uptempo but will also have to slow it down at times, if they run into foul trouble.
“Just getting to the regional tournament is go- ing to be tough,” Tutor said. “We have five to six teams [in our conference] that could easily be in the state tournament.
“So somebody is going to be left sitting at home.”
OCT. 16
OCT. 18 .....................................PANGBURN OCT. 23 ................................ @NEMO VISTA OCT. 30 .............................. @CALICO ROCK NOV. 6 .............................. SACRED HEART* NOV. 9 ......................................... @TIMBO* NOV. 13 ...................................... SHIRLEY* NOV. 16 ............................... GUY-PERKINS* NOV. 27 ..........................@RURAL SPECIAL* NOV. 30 ................. MOUNT VERNON-ENOLA* DEC. 1 ................... (B) LR QUEST ACADEMY DEC. 4 ...................................@CONCORD* DEC. 7 ................................ WONDERVIEW*
The Lady Eagles have three starters coming back, including sophomore Hailey Gentry and juniors Alex Southerland and Madison Bailey.
Gentry, a guard, moved up at the end of
DEC. 14 ......................................... TIMBO* DEC. 17 ....................................... MIDLAND
............................................ KIRBY
JAN. 4
JAN. 8
JAN. 11 .......................... @SACRED HEART* JAN. 15 ............................ RURAL SPECIAL* JAN. 18 .............. @MOUNT VERNON-ENOLA* JAN. 22 .................................... CONCORD* JAN. 24 ............................ @WONDERVIEW* JAN. 29 ........................................ CLINTON FEB. 1 ................. SOUTH SIDE BEE BRANCH FEB. 5 ................................ ABUNDANT LIFE
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
last year and became a leader on the floor, the coach said.
“She does a good job reading the defense and can score and find the open man,” said Tutor, who was hired on in May. “She has an excellent work
...................................... @SHIRLEY* ............................... @GUY-PERKINS*
ROSE BUD LADY RAMBLERS
Lady Ramblers’ guard play on point, coach says
BY SAM PIERCE
STAFF WRITER
The Rose Bud Lady Ramblers have the
same goal every year — to be at their best, come February.
“You can expect to see a group of girls who are disciplined and play very hard,” head coach Bradley Moss said. “Our goal every year is to be at our best in February, so that is
what we will try to do.”
Rose Bud finished 23-11 last year and returns
two starters, senior Gracie Hartle and junior Hope Hartle. Hope averaged just over 11 points per game last year, along with 7.5 rebounds. Gracie averaged 6.2 points per game with 3 assists and was 39 percent from beyond the arch.
“We are pretty heavily guard-oriented,” Moss said. “Hope Hartle plays inside and out out of necessity. Caitlyn Waggoner should provide some physicality in the paint this season, and Kyann Hays has been really working and im- proving this offseason.”
He said Hope and Gracie will be the leaders from the perimeter.
ROSE BUD RAMBLERS
great group of seniors who led by example. “Their work ethic was unbelievable,” Moss said. “I hope our upperclassmen can step up and
provide that same type of leadership this year. “Our strengths will be our guard play and the ability to shoot the basketball. I think the back-to-back state-tournament appearances have provided some much-needed postseason
experience for the girls.”
Go Ramblers!
5898 Hwy 36 West Rose Bud, AR 501-556-5808
NOV. 6 .............. @HASKELL HARMONY GROVE NOV. 9 ...........................CONWAY ST. JOSEPH NOV. 13 ......................................... QUITMAN NOV. 16 ............... LR EPISCOPAL COLLEGIATE NOV. 19 ............................ VALLEY SPRINGS* NOV. 26 ................. @QUITMAN TOURNAMENT NOV. 27 .....................................MAYFLOWER DEC. 4 ......................................... CLINTON* DEC. 7 .................................... @BERGMAN* DEC. 8 ...@CONWAY CHRISTIAN TOURNAMENT DEC. 11 .................................... MARSHALL* DEC. 14 ...........................@GREEN FOREST* DEC. 27 ......@HEBER SPRINGS TOURNAMENT
“Gracie has spent the summer working on her shot and being a consistent threat,” the coach said. “She sees the floor well and will run our offense.
“Hope is an inside-out player. She’s super ath- letic and can really pull down a ton of rebounds.” He said freshman Kyndal Rooks will be a big help this season. The coach said she provides
elite athleticism and can really score.
“Senior transfer Hailey Vaughan will
JAN. 8 ............................ @MOUNTAIN VIEW* JAN. 11 ......................... @VALLEY SPRINGS* JAN. 15 ..............................@SACRED HEART JAN. 18 ...................................... BERGMAN* JAN. 22 ..................................... @CLINTON* JAN. 25 .............................. GREEN FOREST* JAN. 29 .................................. @MARSHALL* JAN. 31 ..................@MOUNT VERNON-ENOLA FEB. 1 ...............................MOUNTAIN VIEW*
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
definitely help and provide some quickness at the guard spot,” Moss said. “She anticipates things defensively very well. Juniors Skylar Wise and Once Jasso will be depended on heavily this season.
“Hopefully, we will have a sophomore or two step up and provide us with some depth this season. Briley Chandler and Kortney Clayton could both do that.”
Moss said that last year, Rose Bud had a