The only direction to go this winter is up for the Kentridge High girls basketball team.<\/p>\n
But first-year coach Bob Sandall is fully aware it\u2019s going to take a complete buy in from everybody who steps onto the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe girls worked hard over the summer and made some pretty significant improvements,\u201d Sandall said. \u201cIt\u2019s looking good. The kids are buying into what we\u2019re trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
What the Chargers are trying to do this season consists of baby steps. Baby steps that will first lead them out of the cellar in the ultra-competitive South Puget Sound League North Division and, hopefully, into contention for one of the five playoff berths. But it\u2019s going to take time. Time and a good amount of patience.<\/p>\n
Sandall, who has taken over for Mark Champoux, is well aware of the challenges that lie ahead. Champoux stepped down after last season and posted a 19-61 overall record in four years at the helm of the program.<\/p>\n
This season is based more on making improvements and bringing intensity to the floor each game opposed to how many wins the Chargers can collect.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to go step by step,\u201d said Sandall, who coached at Kentwood in the 1980s and at Kentlake from 199-2001. \u201cIf the only way you measure yourself is by the scoreboard, then it\u2019s going to be tough to see improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed. However, the Chargers have enough talented pieces to easily surpass last year\u2019s 1-19 campaign. Though Kentridge graduated its top three scorers \u2014 Megan Merrill (6.0 points per game), Taylor Riley (5.9) and Alissa Martin (5.0) \u2014 there\u2019s quality returning to the floor. Those quality returners expected to bring zap back into the Charger offensive punch include 5-foot-11 post Sydney Dupuis along with guards Haley Crusch, Marisa Carpenter and forward Stephanie Keowla. Kentridge also has received a nice infusion of newcomers led by Shannon Paglia, Kyla Kitts, Jordan Denny and Tasia Schanbeck.<\/p>\n
Controlling the tempo of the games will be vital for a team that lacks one go-to player, Sandall noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWere going to be a little more patterned offensively and will try and control the pace of the game more,\u201d said Sandall, who was Champoux\u2019s assistant last year. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to shoot the ball really well and be just relentless in rebounding. We\u2019ll have to work hard on the defensive end, and be fundamentally sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, that\u2019s easier said than done in a North Division that traditionally advances two and sometimes three teams to state. Three teams (Auburn Riverside, Kentwood and Federal Way) advanced to the state tournament last winter. The outlook is a bit different this season as Federal Way has moved to the SPSL South and Mount Rainier, which played in the Class 3A Seamount League last year, has joined the ranks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are just no days off in this league,\u201d Sandall said.<\/p>\n
And while that may be the case, Sandall likes what he has seen from his bunch this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no margin for error for us. We need to do things right,\u201d he said. \u201cI know that the girls are willing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
CHARGERS: AT A GLANCE<\/p>\n
\u2022 COACH: Bob Sandall, 1st year.<\/p>\n
\u2022 LAST YEAR: 0-16 in league, 1-19 overall.<\/p>\n
\u2022 TOP RETURNERS: Sydney Dupuis, jr., post; Haley Crusch, jr., guard; Marisa Carpenter, jr., guard; Stephanie Keowla, sr., post.<\/p>\n
\u2022 TOP NEWCOMERS: Shannon Paglia, sr., guard; Kyla Kitts, sr., post; Jordan Denny, jr., guard; Tasia Schanbeck, jr., guard.<\/p>\n
\u2022 STRENGTHS: Quickness, shooting.<\/p>\n
\u2022 WEAKNESSES: Inexperience, height.<\/p>\n
\u2022 LAST STATE APPEARANCE: 1988.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The only direction to go this winter is up for the Kentridge High girls basketball team.
\nBut first-year coach Bob Sandall is fully aware it\u2019s going to take a complete buy in from everybody who steps onto the floor.
\n\u201cThe girls worked hard over the summer and made some pretty significant improvements,\u201d Sandall said. \u201cIt\u2019s looking good. The kids are buying into what we\u2019re trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":19996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-19995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19995"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19995"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=19995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}