MIKE MACKE
WZBD.com
Coach Kyle Roe is in his second season at the helm of the Lady Jets basketball program after taking over mid-summer last year. It was a building year and A.C. managed a 7 – 16 record (2 – 4 ACAC) with several underclassmen and little experience.
That would seem to bode well for this year with only Gracie Garwood graduating, but as has become common in this day and age, two other regulars transferred to other schools and now the Lady Jets have three holes to fill.
“Gracie was our leader, our leading scorer. She provided energy and play making capabilities. She is going to be very difficult to replace. We also had Hailey Heller and Addie Baker transfer out.”
That doesn’t mean that Coach Roe has little to work with. He returns two seniors who are in their third year on varsity. Athena Schwartz was the second leading scorer from last year (7.6 pts/g) who is a disruptive force on defense averaging almost four steals per game.
Grace Fisher was the leading rebounder at 5.8 reb/g who also contributed 4.7 pts/g. A third senior, Audrey Eisberg, is also back with a year of varsity experience. As seniors, they will be asked to provide leadership in addition to their performance for the team.
Alexa Brotherton averaged 3.5 pts/g as a sophomore last year and she is back along with Ava Stafford who scored 4.4 pts/g as a freshman. They will be counted on to improve on those numbers this season. Another sophomore with some varsity experience is Kate Fisher, who the coaching staff feels can really step up this year.
The rest of the roster is made up of newcomers to varsity action. Lille Dull, Ashlyn Doster, and Elliee Ogg are juniors getting their first taste of varsity action. Sophia Ward is a sophomore, and the lone freshman is Izzy Isch.
“We expect to see Lillee, Ashlyn and Ellie to get a good amount of playing time. We’ve also been impressed with Izzy’s aggressiveness, and she could sneak up the ranks if her game continues to develop.”
As for an outlook to the season, coach Roe really isn’t sure.
“It’s difficult to assess our potential at this time. We had a pretty solid summer, but seldom had everyone there due to involvement in other sports. I think if we can shoot the ball more consistently and limit our turnovers, we can be very competitive in both conference and sectional.”
There has been more change in the program in the off-season than the team had counted on. However, coach Roe has been impressed with how the girls have handled the adversity and takes a very healthy look at the big picture.
“Basketball helps prepare us for life. Regardless of stats or win/loss records, these girls are going to be successful at life!”
Well said.
The Jets will start their season on the road Saturday, Nov. 4 at Lakewood Park Christian. Their first home game will be Nov. 11 against Fremont.
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