Whitko Girls Have Young Talent, Higher Expectations
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Anthony Gadson-agadson@timesuniononline.com
SOUTH WHITLEY — Two years after seeing a high-profile incoming freshman transfer, the Whitko High School girls program has a couple that are sticking around. Two years ago, Darby Maggard opted to transfer from Whitko to Fort Wayne Canterbury after routinely scoring 30 points per game as an eighth grader. Maggard now has two Class 1A state championships under her belt and is ranked as the 50th overall prospect in the Class of 2015 on ESPN’s recruiting site. While Maggard’s gone, Whitko has yet another freshman that’s already visited most state universities in Aly Reiff. “Aly put herself on the map by being a freshman playing on a junior travel basketball team,” third-year Whitko coach Brandon Bradley said. “And not only playing on a junior team, but playing with the best junior team in the state.” As a freshman on the Spiece Gym Rats Red team, Reiff was one of two freshmen on the squad, but her talent was apparent. “She’s roughly 5-10 or 5-11, extremely long and she’s a point guard,” Bradley said. “She has a very high skill set. She can handle the ball going either direction equally well. She can shoot the ball from the perimeter. Where she’s going to have to get better immediately is, she has to continue to get stronger. But she has put in a lot of time in the weight room.” Along with Reiff, Bradley also says freshman Briana Cumberland has drawn Division I interest as a 5-8 guard. “She is another long guard,” Bradley said. “Has a very high basketball IQ and good overall basketball skill set. She is actually known for her perimeter shooting. She too has to get stronger. She’s still very slender, but she’s very crafty and makes a lot of plays defensively for us. Once she gets stronger, particularly in her legs, I think you’re going to be able to see her shooting from 25 feet.” Throughout middle school, Reiff and Cumberland helped the Lady Wildcats go 46-2, including 19-0 a year ago. Another young player the Lady Wildcats will rely on is 5-9 sophomore guard/forward Jen Reiff, who started two games last year, averaging 3.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals. “Jen went through growing pains (last year),” Bradley said. “She’d have a couple games where she was really spectacular, but then she’d have a few games when she was really a freshman. She’s still trying to adapt. She’s spent a lot of time working on her skill set, which was something that needed to catch up. She’s always been long and athletic and that’s how she’s been able to look spectacular. Now what we’re trying to do is add more ball handling and the ability to knock down a perimeter shot or two to keep the defense honest. She’s put in the time.” With the two Reiff girls, who are not related, and Cumberland, Whitko will have plenty of length on the perimeter, which will lead to a change in the team’s style of play. “The difference between this year and previous years is, in previous years we had more size,” Bradley said. “We played more of a slower-paced, half-court defense, half-court offense. We took our time and really managed shot selection as best we could, trying to play more efficiently. This year, with having (junior) Reghan Craig and (junior) Aly Nicodemus a year older then having Brianna Cumberland and Aly Reiff newer to the program, and being very skilled as freshmen, we now have more kids that can handle the ball and can push tempo. That’s something we’re excited about. “Now, we’re going to have to play more skillfully and really use our guard play, our perimeter shooting,” he added. “Defensively, we have more length, more athleticism.” Bradley will still have his starting center from last year, in 6-1 senior Jordan Hall. As a junior, Hall averaged 8.8 points, 1.4 steals, and a team-high 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. “Jordan comes off being honorable mention all conference last year and did a real nice job for us,” Bradley said. “She had some really big highlights. Against West Noble, she had 23 rebounds, then in her next game against Adams Central, she had 14 more rebounds. She got into a good groove around Christmas, then became more consistent down the stretch.” Another key low post player will be 5-11 junior Gretta Schneider, who’s playing time will see a big increase. “Gretta has come a long way,” Bradley said. “Last year, she played a lot of (junior varsity) for us, but in the past year, she’s put on 10-15 pounds of muscle and she may be an inch taller now. She’s very long, very bouncy and is just different. She gives us a lot more versatility.” During Bradley’s first two years at Whitko, he’s posted a 16-27 record, going 7-14 last season. In his third year at the helm of the program, he knows he has a young team, but one that’s used to having success. “There’s a difference,” he said. “They’re holding each other accountable. There’s just a different feel to the group. I think they’re starting to believe and that’s something we’ve been stressing the last three years – which is that we can win here. We could have won two years ago, we could have won last year. That’s something we've tried to instill in them. “We’re a little more talented, a little deeper too maybe, but we’re also a lot less experienced,” he added. “You can say it’s cautious optimism. They’re setting their own goals now, we’re not setting them as coaches.” Among those goals is winning the Three Rivers Conference, a conference Whitko went 2-5 in a year ago. The other goal is to capture the program’s first sectional title. “We go out and look at our banners everyday and point that out,” Bradley said. “They want to change that.” If they’re going to be in the hunt for either one of those goals this year, a fast start would seem to be important for a young team. However, Whitko’s early-season schedule doesn’t have many ‘gimmies’. “We don't shy away from anybody,” Bradley said. “In our first five games of the season, we have Columbia City (Nov. 15), Huntington North (Nov. 22) and Warsaw (Nov. 29). And if you extend to our first six games, throw (Fort Wayne) Northrop (Dec. 4) in there. That’s three 4A schools and one that’s close to it. We’re going to come out and we’re going to compete. I’ve told the girls the last couple of years, ‘As long as you come out and compete as hard as you can and as intelligent as you can, no matter what the result is at the end of day, we’ll accept it.’” Whitko opens its season Tuesday at Central Noble, a team that’s gone 6-56 the past three seasons, and lost 54-27 at Whitko last year.
