The Lady Cougars had a barely audible roar last season with only two victories as the rebuilding continues, but the energy and passion is growing stronger for the East Hardy Girls Basketball 2019-20 campaign.
East Hardy head coach Bridget Billmeyer enters her 11th season at the helm with a lot of promising talent learning the techniques to succeed together.
Finishing last year with a record of 2-18 ending in the section quarterfinals was frustrating, but East Hardy is looking to overcome those obstacles this season.
“This year we hope to see improvement from our returning players on the offensive end of the floor. We have been working hard to put up more points than our previous season. A large group of freshmen have joined us this year and are pushing the returning players to become better. The freshmen have added quickness and competitiveness to our program,” East Hardy coach Bridget Billmeyer [private]remarked.
East Hardy seniors Rebecca Whetzel, Jaden Fleshman and Chelsea Keller have gained experience to help the underclassmen understand the roles to be played during the games.
All three seniors have been good rebounders and improved their shooting inside the paint and beyond in addition to being aggressive on defense creating turnovers and hustling for the ball.
East Hardy varsity and junior varsity teams alternated quarters against Elkins in a scrimmage last week with the Lady Tigers winning the first two varsity quarters 9-7 and 11-2, while the Elkins JV team won 7-3 and the next quarter was a tie at 7-all.
There was a tremendous amount of hustle and determination from the Lady Cougars battling throughout the scrimmage.
East Hardy’s Rebecca Whetzel and Chelsea Keller chased down loose balls and fought for jump ball calls on both ends of the floor.
East Hardy junior Perry Whetzel and sophomore Makenzie Blair were the primary ball handlers moving up the court and did their best to circumvent the Elkins pressure making passes to teammates.
Blair and Perry Whetzel were quick shifting on defense to force turnovers.
It appeared the Lady Cougars worked mostly on attacking inside the paint during the scrimmage and working around the perimeter to find openings.
One of the impressive showings of the scrimmage came from Lady Cougars freshman Taylor Strawderman using her size and strength to attack the basket and defensively ripped the ball away for steals going on fast breaks on numerous occasions.
The roster includes seniors Rebecca Whetzel, Jaden Fleshman, Chelsea Keller; juniors Tera Jones, Katee Short, Perry Whetzel; sophomores Sarah Merritt, Jenna Lilly, Makenzie Blair; and freshmen Emma Heishman, Autumn Crites, Taylor Strawderman, Gabby Miller, Cate Fulk and Tori Pratt.
East Hardy has a front-loaded schedule with nine games before Christmas including the first three games in four days plus a holiday tournament.
The Lady Cougars commenced the season at home against Harman yesterday and hosts Petersburg tonight (Wednesday) before hitting the road against Page County, Va. on Friday.
East Hardy hosts Moorefield on December 10 and visits the Hive for the regular season finale on February 13.
The Lady Cougars added Meadow Bridge to the schedule on December 14 in the Den and an away game on January 23.
East Hardy will compete in the Strasburg Rams Hardwood Classic on December 27 and 30.
The Class A Potomac Valley Conference opponents are Harman, Moorefield, Tucker County, Union, Paw Paw and Pendleton County.
The Lady Cougars play two Class AA teams this year: Berkeley Springs and Petersburg.
East Hardy has been working hard on all aspects of the game during practice to improve on the skills to become better this year.[/private]