By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
The Warriors girls basketball team competed in its annual summer league this month and coach Kelli Jennings is excited about what is to come for her squad.
Summer basketball is the first chance for players and coaches to get a feel for the upcoming season. Jennings had her entire squad in competition and stressed many different strategies.
“We’ve always had one big focus,” Jennings said. “Go hard. Whether it is summer, preseason or playoffs, it’s about going hard. If we can establish that as our level of play during the summer everything else transitions more smoothly when it’s time to implement offense and defense.”
Jennings is also excited about the different aspects of the team this year.
“We had our full team this summer and it was a lot of fun,” she said. “We have size, speed and some shooters. Depending on who we put out there, our game from time to time will look extremely different. I thought with how short our summer was the team came together nicely.”
“What stuck out the most was the diversity of this year’s team,” Jennings said of what stuck out during summer league. “We already look quite different from last year and our options in every aspect of the game have grown for this group. As I said before, we have size, speed and some shooters, so if we stay healthy it will be a fun group to watch.”
Jennings didn’t see any negatives, but she did see opportunities.
“We have several girls who have little or no high school experience and just need time playing with our upperclassmen. There are several areas we need to grow in, but thankfully we have some time.”
The goals never change for the program. The established success means one thing for the players and coaches – a state championship.
“We establish individual goals once practice gets going, however, it’s understood what the ultimate team goal is each year. I will never stop stressing the legacy and tradition that the Lady Warriors have and how each group of girls has responsibility and honor of continuing those traditions.”
