Team Preview
Written by: Sven Alskog
In the first year under new Head Coach Deena Garbett, the Declo Lady Hornets found difficulty on both sides of the floor on their way to a 5-16 season.
The transition to a new coach came following a 9-9 mark the year prior, although many of those players graduated, forcing young and inexperienced players into duty during Garbett’s first year patrolling the sidelines.
More seniors have exited the program including the anchors of the backcourt in Rachel Webb and Alexis Mills.
What’s left in the cupboard for experienced talent is primarily interior players. Leading the way down low for the Hornets will be seniors Malorie Bowen and Rachel Moore, both of which received plenty of playing time last year. Both players developed into the leading scorers for the squad, earning First Team All-Conference honors as a result.
“We have a big senior class returning with two of the best posts in the 2A,” said Garbett.
With the struggles of last season came plenty of opportunities for young players to try to prove themselves. The result is a much more battle-tested team which should be better able to compete this time around with a full season of varsity experience under its belt.
On the perimeter, sophomore Paige Ramsey, senior Sidney Wilson and senior Adriana Rodriguez are all expected to receive more playing time, with Ramsey potentially handling the bulk of the ball-handling duties.
After the bumps in the road from last year, Declo should be able to begin reaping the benefits from this point forward, especially learning under the tutelage of Garbett. An experienced coach, she has had stops along the way as an assistant at Montana State University, a year as the head coach at American Falls and ten years with the well-respected NBC Camps.
Under the new coaching staff the focus for the Hornets will continue to be on the defensive side of the ball. Last season did not go the way they would have hope in that regard, allowing over 40 points 12 times. Declo will place even more of an emphasis on aggressive defense this season, t getting in opponents’ faces whenever they can.
“We like to push the basketball up the floor to try and get an easy bucket,” said Garbett. “We also take pride in defense and play intense man to man defense.”
After years of battling Oakley and Valley in conference games, the two schools have moved down a classification to the 1AD1 Snake River Conference for all sports this year. As a result, Declo is left with just themselves and Wendell in conference. The schedule because of this features plenty of matchups with both 3A and 1A schools in an attempt to give the Hornets as much valuable experience as possible before district tournament play come February.
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