NW4A Preview

Only about 3 weeks to go. I'm not much of a football fan so lets talk bball. I can give some insight to what South Caldwell may be like maybe some others will give us a preview into other nw4a schools.

Looks like SC may finally return to the caliber of play we became used to back in the late nineties and early 2000 when we were consistantly one of the better teams in the state. Sure hope so we have had a long dry spell and are ready to compete again.
Lakey will be dominate this year. She has worked on her shooting and is a big force inside. Look for her to compete for POY in the conference. Not an overlly talk post player but I'm sure she is the strongest player in the conference.
Hobbs will run the offense with her knowledge, ballhandling skills and competivness will do a great job. If her outside shots are falling look for her to also compete for POY. Probablly the most underrated player in the league last year. Most people haven't seen how really good she is.
Hawkins comes into her own in her senoir season. This girl can score a bunch just needs to look for HER shot a little more this year. Super quick and could be a thorn on the side of opposing teams while playing defense.
Kidd is really fitting in with the team. This girl can play and will be a big help inside. Look for her to have a big year for the Spartans.
Overall team speed will be incerdible. No one will outrun this team. If we can score a little better than last year and keep the defense we had SC will be a major contender this year.

Negatives are size and depth. This isn't a small team but their not real tall. Lakey is about 5-11, Hobbs and Kidd are both about 5-9 and the rest are small. Don't know what the bench will be like. There are some possible players on the bench only time will tell how much they have improved over the past year. Some of them need to step up and contribute for SC to go deep into the playoffs.

Can't wait for the start good luck to all nw4a teams and most of all I hope everyone stays healthy

 

You are almost 100% correct on the South Caldwell preview. Lackey and Hobbs are a definite threat and hawkins and Church can shoot well. My concerns about the mighty Spartans are.... Will there be enough shots to go around for that team? We have seen it for a couple years and Kidd will get her shots! 25+ a game. Will there be enough for the others to remain happy. Hope Parham can control that.
The team speed you talk about- I do question that, AC Reynolds, McDowell, and Freedom can all fly. I don't think the combination South will put on the floor will be able to keep up with those three. With all that said good luck and we'll soon see what is to come of the NW 4A.

 

U got that right she does shoot 20 times a game.The thing is 23 of the 25 shots are 3 pointers and she misses most of them.Lets hope south aint got a good point gaurd cause she does get jealous of them.team speed may be there but kidd aint got it shes slower than snail.

 

I may be wrong but from what I have heard Kidd won't be playing out front she will be a post for SC. And I've also heard she has no problem with that. I promise you any girl who plays for Parham will be a team player or no player at all. He is a very strict disiplinarian and if you play for him you do it his way or no way at all. As for Kidd, word is she has been very coachable and working as a team player and accepting her role on the team. I think she will do just fine

 

still second tier

SC and FHS are both second tier to McDowell and ACR until they prove otherwise. I would say SC is preseason 4th in NW4A. Maybe they can win and move up. FHS is in same boat.
MCD just has more good players than others but their off season is slack.
ACR -has best off season sytem (Royals AAU)
FHS- most the ahtletes, I hear now has a Atkinson type guard, but better scorer
SC-improves most during season
WAT- Lacks a year round program
EB-JV players at best
A Cent-no BB emphasis at that school

 

first off...dribbles, welcome to the girls basketball board. We hope to hear from you on a regular basis. Do you have any ties to a particular school or are you just a fan of the NW4A in general?

In reference to the McDowell girls, I know that an effort was made this past spring to get all the McDowell girls on one AAU team and have somebody coach them. But, the parents that had coached AAU in the past wanted to continue so McDowell ended up having two different squads. One squad played YBOA and played mainly local tourneys, while the other played actual AAU tourneys out of state.

 

I agree with you about Watauga. We have not had a year round program before the last 2 years. The coaching staff of WHS has worked really hard to create and develop the Watauga Storm organization. They will start reaping the rewards from this program in the next couple of years. The Storm is doing a good job competing considering that we only pull from Watauga County.
The 12u team from last year has defeated all of the teams that feed the NW4A schools. They have defeated the Royals, Jammers, Titans, and the other McDowell team. Two of their players were invited by the Jammers to play in the National tournament. The program is a work in progress. Both with the Storm and with WHS. However, things are looking up for the Pioneers. They will be young this year and may take some lumps along the way, but look for a very improved Lady Pioneer team within 2-3 years!!

 

I know for a fact that summer programs had been stressed prior to the last 2 years, but lack of parent support for it killed it before it ever got off the ground. A summer league was set up but not followed. Summer workouts that included weight-training and conditioning as well as skill development were also available. Stability in the coaching position will help this team as much as anything. Good luck coach.. Stay strong.

Good to hear the the support is finally there. Watauga had great teams several years ago and it would be nice to see them rise again. Good luck girls.

Can't wait to see the games this season from around the league. Good luck to all the teams.

 

Lady Titans Preview

New era of Lady Titans basketball begins this season. I know a lot of people were wanting Mike Silver to retire after last season, but sorry...he's back for another season...

Only two players return that got significant time last year. Lea Smith is back for her senior year, expect big things from her. Also, Kelsea Greene is back after an impressive freshmen campaign. These two girls are gonna carry most of the load for the Lady Titans. Jessica Smith will also be back, she got some playing time last year as a Sophmore but it was few and far between because she was backup to Anna Atkinson. Her time should increase significantly. Infact, with the work ethic that she has, she could very well earn a starting spot at a guard position. Sierra Elliott also played last year on the Varsity team and will be in mix for significant playing time.

But I think the two girls that could very well work their way into a significant part of this team are the two upcoming sophmores Kurie Washington and Ebonique Hamilton. Ebonique is a 5"10 post player who plays much taller than her height. She has great skills as a post player, infact her post skills may be as good as Lea Smith. Ebonique tore her ACL back in 8th grade, last year was one of those years where she played well but she played cautiously because of her previous injury. I think that "fear", if you wanna call it that, is gone and I think she could really break out as a sophmore.

Kurie Washington, IMHO, is a very special talented player that you don't see often. Kurie is a fundamentally sound player. She could play as many as three different positions on the court (both guards and small forward) Kurie is about 5'8", she's athletic as can be and is one of those that can take a beating and dosen't get taken out of her game. If there was one flaw that the Lady Titans of the last four years had, it was the abilty of being knocked out of sync when going up against teams that liked to grind (South Caldwell, AC Reynolds, Harding Univ.) Quite a few of the JV players from last year are gonna contend for spots on the team, players like Courtney Griffith, Chaunda Hill, and Alana Moore.

This years squad has talent, but it is raw and unexperienced talent. A lot of things are in queston right now. As we go into the first two weeks of practice, players are gonna earn their way onto the roster. With the exception of maybe two players, nothing is a certain. As we go through the non-conference schedule people are gonna earn increased playing time. And BTW, from the rumors I have heard, the non-conference schedule will indeed challenge these girls and get them ready for the conference. The best thing about this year is that there is no pressure on this team to go a certain distance. Just in conversation with a lot of people, few if any expects us to win the conference. And very few expects us to make noise in the state playoffs. I know a lot of people in the conference are happy to see the likes of Atkinson, Lovik, Brown and Kiser gone. But, I think this upcoming group of sophmores are gonna impress a lot of people as the season progresses.

 

If, anybody would like to see Anna and the rest go, they are sadly mistaken.