Triton Coach Hopes Young Team Works Hard, Learns
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
With girls basketball season starting a week earlier to accommodate boys basketball sectionals at the end of the year, there was an overlap of volleyball and basketball.
But that’s OK with head basketball coach Adam Heckaman.
“The success of the volleyball team has really put us in a pinch for practices. That's a problem I would welcome every year though,” he said. “When one team is successful it can really build the confidence of the kids and we can always catch up later with practice time.”
The schedule may hinder early-season results in terms of wins and losses, but the idea is always to be peaking by the time the postseason starts. Do well in the sectional, and hardly anyone remembers any kind of early-season struggles.
“As far as struggling early and peaking late, the goal every year is for us to improve each day in practice and to improve from each game so we are playing our best at the end of the year. This season will be no different,” Heckaman said. “We are young and will have a lot to learn, but as long as we are learning and working hard daily we will see it pay off in the end.
“We’ve had a great group of girls go through the system the last few years and have had a lot of success. The group of seniors that graduated last year did some great things for us and are going to be greatly missed. In order for us to maintain what they did we will have to have a lot of people step up.
“One of the biggest things for us is going to be the leadership. We will be looking for someone to really step into that roll this year. We will go through some difficult stretches just like every year and how well our leaders handle it will dictate a lot of how the season will go.”
The Lady Trojans’ top returning scorer is senior Jaela Meister, who averaged 8.2 points a contest last season. After that, there’s plenty of room for players to step up. Last year’s top two scorers, Kylie Mason and Becca Kennedy, graduated after combining for 21 points a game.
Other returnees include seniors Shayla May and Brooklyn Beatty, junior Quinn Downing and sophomores Hannah Wanemacher and Nicole Sechrist. But Heckaman feels his team, while lacking experience overall, has learned its lessons well as underclassmen.
“If we can go out and compete each night and learn from the previous night we will have a successful season,” he said. “We aren't lowering our standards just because we are young. Just like every year our goal is to go out and compete each night and to improve so we can have a chance at winning conference, bi-county and sectional,” Heckaman said.
Triton opens its season Friday when it travels to John Glenn. The home opener for the Lady Trojans will be Tuesday when they host Argos in the annual Hoops For Hope contest.[[In-content Ad]]
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With girls basketball season starting a week earlier to accommodate boys basketball sectionals at the end of the year, there was an overlap of volleyball and basketball.
But that’s OK with head basketball coach Adam Heckaman.
“The success of the volleyball team has really put us in a pinch for practices. That's a problem I would welcome every year though,” he said. “When one team is successful it can really build the confidence of the kids and we can always catch up later with practice time.”
The schedule may hinder early-season results in terms of wins and losses, but the idea is always to be peaking by the time the postseason starts. Do well in the sectional, and hardly anyone remembers any kind of early-season struggles.
“As far as struggling early and peaking late, the goal every year is for us to improve each day in practice and to improve from each game so we are playing our best at the end of the year. This season will be no different,” Heckaman said. “We are young and will have a lot to learn, but as long as we are learning and working hard daily we will see it pay off in the end.
“We’ve had a great group of girls go through the system the last few years and have had a lot of success. The group of seniors that graduated last year did some great things for us and are going to be greatly missed. In order for us to maintain what they did we will have to have a lot of people step up.
“One of the biggest things for us is going to be the leadership. We will be looking for someone to really step into that roll this year. We will go through some difficult stretches just like every year and how well our leaders handle it will dictate a lot of how the season will go.”
The Lady Trojans’ top returning scorer is senior Jaela Meister, who averaged 8.2 points a contest last season. After that, there’s plenty of room for players to step up. Last year’s top two scorers, Kylie Mason and Becca Kennedy, graduated after combining for 21 points a game.
Other returnees include seniors Shayla May and Brooklyn Beatty, junior Quinn Downing and sophomores Hannah Wanemacher and Nicole Sechrist. But Heckaman feels his team, while lacking experience overall, has learned its lessons well as underclassmen.
“If we can go out and compete each night and learn from the previous night we will have a successful season,” he said. “We aren't lowering our standards just because we are young. Just like every year our goal is to go out and compete each night and to improve so we can have a chance at winning conference, bi-county and sectional,” Heckaman said.
Triton opens its season Friday when it travels to John Glenn. The home opener for the Lady Trojans will be Tuesday when they host Argos in the annual Hoops For Hope contest.[[In-content Ad]]
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