Lady Warriors Ready To Move Forward
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony Gadson-agadson@timesuniononline.com
“The only time we bring it up, is to talk about the positives of what we see this year,” Zolman said. “We’ve seen some good things with the young kids we have.”
Looking forward to kicking off this season, which begins Friday at Westview, the Wawasee Lady Warriors will be led by senior guard KiLee Knafel.
A three-time Times-Union All-Area team member, as well as 2011 Player of the Year, Knafel has increased her scoring average from 13.5 points a game as a freshman to 18.3 as a sophomore then to 24.9 last year.
“She’s one of the top scorers in the area, if not the state,” Wawasee girls basketball coach Kem Zolman said about the 5-foot-7 guard. “She knows how to score, so we have that kind of leadership. Knowing that’s always there, you now have to watch that these young kids don’t just stand there and watch her play. That’s what we’ve really been concentrating on here in the preseason – just getting everyone involved.”
Along with leading the team in scoring a year ago, Knafel’s 8.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals a game were also tops on the team, while she also averaged 2.1 assists.
This year, she’s going to need some help if the team’s going to succeed.
“She gets impatient, as all good scorers do, but what she’s learned in the offseason is to rely on her teammates,” Zolman said. “They’re doing some really good things right now. We’ve challenged her to make others around her better. We have others around her that are capable of making her look good.”
Two prime candidates to help her get better, and vice versa, are seniors Lexy Blunk and Cassie Martinez.
From the 5-3 Blunk, Zolman is hoping for some peskiness, while he’s optimistic the 5-5 Martinez is fully recovered from a knee injury she suffered her sophomore season.
“Lexy has stepped up her game,” he said. “She’s a very small young lady to play this kind of game, but she has stepped her game up offensively. Defensively, she’s just a gnat, which is what we’re asking her to do.
“Cassie came off a knee injury last year, but never really did look like Cassie,” he added. “In our scrimmage we had (Wednesday at home against John Glenn), it took her until about the third quarter, but all of a sudden she did a couple of things where I thought, ‘There’s the Cassie of old.’ My experience with anyone who’s had a knee injury is, it takes a year before you get back. We’re looking forward to seeing Cassie as a senior.”
Outside of Knafel, Blunk and Martinez, last year’s other two starters are gone, as Kelsey Hunter graduated and Kiley Cooper is not playing this season.
The only other girl to return with notable varsity experience is 5-3 sophomore guard Elizabeth Jackson, while 5-5 junior Megan Grindle, and 5-7 junior Ashlynn Fisher were also on last year’s roster.
Some new faces on the varsity squad are junior varsity players from a year ago in 5-6 sophomore Natalie Jones and 5-9 sophomore Courtney Linnemeier.
The rest of the roster is occupied by freshmen Allissa Flores, Erin Wiktoroski, Katelyn Kennedy, Kylee Rostochak and Addison Ayres.
With so much inexperience, Zolman’s going to rely heavily on the experience of his three seniors.
“These seniors have won sectionals,” Zolman said, referring to 2011’s sectional title. “These seniors have been through the worst season we’ve ever had. They’ve been through the gamut – from one end of the spectrum to the other. That always brings experience that’s invaluable.”
Unfortunately, Knafel is the tallest of the those seniors, and the only notable height is in the freshman class.
Because of that, the Lady Warriors’ swarming, pressing defense will need to be effective.
“We aren’t going to stop anybody in the post,” Zolman said. “The pressure is going to have to be key for us. We need to turn our size into a strength and get after people. If we don’t, we can front (the other team’s post players) all we want, but they’re just going to lob it up to them. (Size) is just something we’re not blessed with right now.”
With the absence of height, Wawasee will need to utilize effort, and Zolman believes this group can succeed there.
“In practice, I like their attitudes, their enthusiasm and their willingness to work hard,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]
“The only time we bring it up, is to talk about the positives of what we see this year,” Zolman said. “We’ve seen some good things with the young kids we have.”
Looking forward to kicking off this season, which begins Friday at Westview, the Wawasee Lady Warriors will be led by senior guard KiLee Knafel.
A three-time Times-Union All-Area team member, as well as 2011 Player of the Year, Knafel has increased her scoring average from 13.5 points a game as a freshman to 18.3 as a sophomore then to 24.9 last year.
“She’s one of the top scorers in the area, if not the state,” Wawasee girls basketball coach Kem Zolman said about the 5-foot-7 guard. “She knows how to score, so we have that kind of leadership. Knowing that’s always there, you now have to watch that these young kids don’t just stand there and watch her play. That’s what we’ve really been concentrating on here in the preseason – just getting everyone involved.”
Along with leading the team in scoring a year ago, Knafel’s 8.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals a game were also tops on the team, while she also averaged 2.1 assists.
This year, she’s going to need some help if the team’s going to succeed.
“She gets impatient, as all good scorers do, but what she’s learned in the offseason is to rely on her teammates,” Zolman said. “They’re doing some really good things right now. We’ve challenged her to make others around her better. We have others around her that are capable of making her look good.”
Two prime candidates to help her get better, and vice versa, are seniors Lexy Blunk and Cassie Martinez.
From the 5-3 Blunk, Zolman is hoping for some peskiness, while he’s optimistic the 5-5 Martinez is fully recovered from a knee injury she suffered her sophomore season.
“Lexy has stepped up her game,” he said. “She’s a very small young lady to play this kind of game, but she has stepped her game up offensively. Defensively, she’s just a gnat, which is what we’re asking her to do.
“Cassie came off a knee injury last year, but never really did look like Cassie,” he added. “In our scrimmage we had (Wednesday at home against John Glenn), it took her until about the third quarter, but all of a sudden she did a couple of things where I thought, ‘There’s the Cassie of old.’ My experience with anyone who’s had a knee injury is, it takes a year before you get back. We’re looking forward to seeing Cassie as a senior.”
Outside of Knafel, Blunk and Martinez, last year’s other two starters are gone, as Kelsey Hunter graduated and Kiley Cooper is not playing this season.
The only other girl to return with notable varsity experience is 5-3 sophomore guard Elizabeth Jackson, while 5-5 junior Megan Grindle, and 5-7 junior Ashlynn Fisher were also on last year’s roster.
Some new faces on the varsity squad are junior varsity players from a year ago in 5-6 sophomore Natalie Jones and 5-9 sophomore Courtney Linnemeier.
The rest of the roster is occupied by freshmen Allissa Flores, Erin Wiktoroski, Katelyn Kennedy, Kylee Rostochak and Addison Ayres.
With so much inexperience, Zolman’s going to rely heavily on the experience of his three seniors.
“These seniors have won sectionals,” Zolman said, referring to 2011’s sectional title. “These seniors have been through the worst season we’ve ever had. They’ve been through the gamut – from one end of the spectrum to the other. That always brings experience that’s invaluable.”
Unfortunately, Knafel is the tallest of the those seniors, and the only notable height is in the freshman class.
Because of that, the Lady Warriors’ swarming, pressing defense will need to be effective.
“We aren’t going to stop anybody in the post,” Zolman said. “The pressure is going to have to be key for us. We need to turn our size into a strength and get after people. If we don’t, we can front (the other team’s post players) all we want, but they’re just going to lob it up to them. (Size) is just something we’re not blessed with right now.”
With the absence of height, Wawasee will need to utilize effort, and Zolman believes this group can succeed there.
“In practice, I like their attitudes, their enthusiasm and their willingness to work hard,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]
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