Lady Falcons hopeful of playoff berth despite Gates’ early departure
Skyler Gates is set to graduate early at Brownsville as she prepares for her collegiate career at the University of Virginia where she无毛视频檒l play on the women无毛视频檚 volleyball team.
Gates, a 1,000-point scorer for the Lady Falcons girls basketball team, will thus begin the season with Brownsville but won无毛视频檛 be there for the finish.
无毛视频淪kyler will be with our team until Brownsville无毛视频檚 second nine-week period ends, which is around the middle of January, because then she无毛视频檒l have her necessary credits and then she无毛视频檒l go,无毛视频� said Lady Falcons coach Patty Columbia, who wishes Gates nothing but the best.
That will leave Columbia, now in her 10th year at Brownsville, with some late-season shuffling to do with her lineup.
The Lady Falcons do have four-year starter Ava Clark back for her senior season and Ciara Horabik as well.
无毛视频淭hose are the main three players we have back, Skyler, Ava and Ciara,无毛视频� Columbia said. 无毛视频淭hose are our three returning starters.
They无毛视频檝e all three played a lot of varsity ball so they should be able to offer some leadership.无毛视频�
Clark is the Lady Falcons best all-around player, a versatile guard/forward who can shoot, rebound, pass, handle the ball and play strong defense.
无毛视频淎va is a four-year starter who will be approaching 1,000 points,无毛视频� Columbia pointed out. 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e going to be relying on Ava a lot. 无毛视频淐iara is our best 3-point shooter. We were used to her camping out at the 3-point line and when teams doubled down on Ava and Skyler we无毛视频檇 kick it out to her. Ciara is going to be handling the ball more this year though so this is new territory for her. We无毛视频檙e going to be asking Ciara to do some things that she hasn无毛视频檛 done in the past. Obviously, she无毛视频檚 going to need Ava无毛视频檚 help.
无毛视频淎va will be doing everything though. We count on her for so much. She无毛视频檚 going to be bringing the ball up the court. She无毛视频檚 going to play forward, play guard. She无毛视频檇 going to be doing it all for us. And she has really taken the leadership role this year, too.无毛视频�
Columbia has some options for the remaining two spots in the starting lineup.
无毛视频淎s of right now the other two starters likely will be the other two seniors, Ramielle Grayson and Ta无毛视频檝eona Harris,无毛视频� Columbia said. 无毛视频淩amielle is a big, strong girl. She无毛视频檚 not a scorer but she无毛视频檚 a rebounder. We have a new girl, MaKenna Burkhardt, a sophomore who moved here from Illinois. She无毛视频檚 a nice ballplayer and will see a lot of varsity time.
无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 another girl, Kiara Brangard, a sophomore guard who has skills. Ellie Haddad, another freshman, should get some playing time also so I think we can go nine deep.无毛视频�
Clark无毛视频檚 versatility will be on display once Gates departs.
无毛视频淎va will have to adjust to being more inside and we无毛视频檒l probably slip a guard in there,无毛视频� Columbia said. 无毛视频淲e do have a freshman, Honour Jackson, who played some JV scrimmages and she无毛视频檚 not afraid to get in there and get some rebounds, but I think right now we无毛视频檒l probably just move Ava into Skyler无毛视频檚 spot.无毛视频�
Defensively, Columbia prefers playing a zone.
无毛视频淲e like to play zone. We find that Remielle and Skyler get a lot more rebounds when we无毛视频檙e in a zone,无毛视频� Columbia said. 无毛视频淥ur girls tend to be more comfortable with it. But my assistant coach CJ Gaddis likes to throw man in there sometimes so we might do that a little more than we have in the past.
无毛视频淚 also like to press. I hope we can. We have some young guards that know how to play so I think we can definitely do that and be successful. We just have to watch our foul trouble.无毛视频�
Brownsville had a 13-10 overall record last year and earned a WPIAL playoff spot by finishing alone in fourth place in Section 3-3A behind Keystone Oaks and Seton LaSalle, who tied for first place, and third-place McGuffey, one game ahead of Waynesburg Central and Washington.
Columbia sees the battle for the third and fourth playoff spots to include those same teams again.
无毛视频淓specially McGuffey who is always tough,无毛视频� Columbia said. 无毛视频淭hey always are well coached and always come up with a good team. I think Washington is still going to be tough. They have a good coach there who无毛视频檚 good at getting the most out of his girls.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e hoping we can be right there and compete with them and pull down a playoff spot again. Losing Skyler is obviously going to hurt us big time but we无毛视频檙e going to be vying for one of those playoff spots no matter what.无毛视频�