KNOX COUNTY – With the 2018-19 high school girls basketball season tipping off this week, we talked to all five county coaches about their respective teams – strengths, weaknesses and expectations – and gave a short profile on each team (listed alphabetically).
There is a healthy mix of youth and experience around the county this year, as well as two new head coaches – Bo Glenn at Centerburg and Tim Maceyko at Fredericktown. Mount Vernon will look to rebuild after losing four senior starters to graduation, coming off a third-place finish in the OCC. Centerburg and Danville will fight to keep their place in the KMAC’s upper echelon, while East Knox and Fredericktown are hungry for improvement after disappointing 2017-18 seasons.
Before previewing each Knox County team, here were the 2017-18 standings for the Ohio Cardinal Conference and Knox Morrow Athletic Conference:
OCC
1. Wooster
2. Lexington
3. Mount Vernon
3. Ashland
5. Madison
6. West Holmes
7. Mansfield Senior
KMAC
1. Cardington
2. Centerburg
3. Danville
4. Highland
5. Northmor
6. Mount Gilead
7. East Knox
8. Fredericktown
With the 2018-19 season just around the corner, here are bite-sized breakdowns of each county team:
Centerburg Trojans
2017-18 record: 18-7 (11-3 in KMAC)
KMAC finish: 2nd
Tournament finish: District semifinals (lost to Bishop Ready, 55-45)
Head coach: Bo Glenn (1st year)
Who’s back: Savannah Gammell (second-team All-KMAC), Chloe Goulter, Grace Mulpas, Kristy Vargo
Who graduated: Cierra Joiner (first-team All-KMAC), Sidney Fields (second-team All-KMAC), Olivia Vance (honorable mention All-KMAC)
Glenn takes over Trojan program accustomed to success
Centerburg will enter the first year of the Bo Glenn era after the retirement of former head coach Todd Nauman this spring, who decided to call it quits after over 30 years with the program. Glenn plans to emphasize the fundamentals with his young group, having lost three all-conference players from last year’s team, including a career 1,000-point scorer in Joiner and a four-year varsity contributor in Fields.
The Trojans’ attack will be centered around Gammell, a forward who led the team in scoring during its season opener against Delaware Christian last Friday. Glenn said that, despite sometimes being undersized in the post, Gammell is “one of the strongest kids I’ve coached” in his 16-year career.
“She is so strong. I mean, just physically strong. She’s always been one that, it’s been easy for her because she’s had those other athletes that have been able to get her the ball in the low post. She’s not the tallest person, but she’s just so strong and she uses her body so well,” Glenn said.
“In rebounding… I mean, she’s just a beast. I’m just trying to get her to show her potential every single day and not take plays off. And if she can do that and understand that, she can play.”
Centerburg will also lean on Goulter, a freshman guard who played 25 minutes in the team’s opener and scored six points.
The Trojans will need to surround Gammell with scoring if they wish to contend for a KMAC title again this season. Last year, they finished second after losing both games to champion Cardington – one by 26 points and the next by 19.
Strength: Winning culture
Glenn is taking over a program that is used to success. Under Nauman, the Trojans won two district titles, 11 sectional titles and and six league titles. Nauman won 64 percent of his games and made it to the regional finals in 2012.
Sometimes, culture can help bridge the gap between classes, as the program’s upperclassmen will have set the tone for the underclassmen coming in. Because of this, the Trojans could potentially surprise some teams this season.
At the same time, Glenn is trying to make his own mark on the program. He was a varsity assistant last year, but now it’s his team. He said that the team has exhibited a strong work ethic thus far, and that they are buying into his ideals as a basketball fundamentalist.
“I am a die-hard believer in the fundamentals – footwork, passing, catching. I mean, if you can’t pass and catch, why would I teach you how to shoot? It’s just the basics,” Glenn said. “We had a lot of turnovers last year, and if we can get shots attempted instead of turning the ball over, we’ve got a better chance of at least competing.”
Weakness: Inexperience
Past success aside, roster turnover is never easy – especially when it comes as drastically as it has this year for Centerburg, which lost several key seniors from last year’s 18-win group.
“We had really solid role players, senior girls that, they stepped right in and they had already some experience coming up for their senior year. So yeah, there is definitely a lot of experience that we’re lacking,” Glenn said.
“Experience… you gotta have it. You just gotta have it. I’m looking at it as, come halfway through the season, that’s where we want to start everything that we’ve implemented. That’s where I’m hoping it finally clicks. And then, guess what, we’re experienced now.”
The Trojans will rely on Gammell and the rest of this year’s senior class (there are six seniors on the roster) to carry the program forward.
Goals and expectations: Improvement and contention
“I have no idea record-wise, but my expectations are, and I say it every single day, but we need to be better today than we were yesterday,” Glenn said. “And if we continue to do that… my expectation is, I want to build a culture of competition. And then once we learn how to compete, the wins will come. And that’s something that we’re doing every day.”
Danville Blue Devils
2017-18 record: 15-9 (10-4 in KMAC)
KMAC finish: 3rd
Tournament finish: District semifinals (lost to Berne Union, 49-40)
Head coach: Matt Proper (6th year)
Who’s back: CeCe Newbold (first-team All-KMAC), Bobbi Berger, Hannah Duncan
Who graduated: Lauren Mickley (first-team All-KMAC), Sydnee Wears (honorable mention All-KMAC), Taylor Duncan
Blue Devils aim for KMAC title behind strong junior class
Danville returns several key playmakers from a roster that contended for a KMAC crown and won two tournament games last season. Among those returners is CeCe Newbold, the 5-foot-10 junior who led the team in scoring (15.7 points per game) and rebounding (6.3 boards per game) last season.
“She’s strong around the rim,” Proper said. “Even though she is just a junior, she’s played a lot of ball. The younger girls really look up to her, knowing that. And up to this point, she’s really working hard. She’s kind of a slasher-post hybrid I guess, but she can hit the three as well.”
Newbold headlines a junior class that will anchor the Blue Devils this winter, comprising of Berger (4.5 points per game), Duncan (1.8 points per game), Erin Mickley (4.9 points per game) and others.
Although they finished four games back, the Blue Devils came quite close to challenging Cardington for a KMAC title last season. Danville lost to second-place Centerburg twice, by two points each time.
“I think we actually lost four games last year by a total of, like, five points. So we were right there, almost pushing 20 wins, but just couldn’t quite get there,” Proper said. “It seemed like we just couldn’t get into a good rhythm last year.”
Danville will try to bridge that gap this season, although it will have to do so without its core leadership from last year’s run. The team’s three seniors last year were all four-year starters, combining for over 2,500 career points. Filling those shoes will be a challenge for Proper’s club this winter.
“There’s some gaps we’ve gotta fill in,” Proper said. “And just like every year when you lose players from graduation, we’re going to have to find out everyone’s niche and everyone’s role because it will change from year to year.”
Strength: Defense
The Blue Devils gave up just 41 points per game last year, including a 15-point defensive masterpiece against Village Academy in the first round of the tournament. Proper said that his team will lean on its defense again this season, aiming to apply disruptive ball pressure for four quarters.
“I think this year, one thing we haven’t had in the past is depth, which opens up the door a little bit to more of that pressure game I guess, in terms of the defense,” Proper said. “Hopefully we can sub in some of those younger players and they kind of figure out what we’re trying to accomplish, and get on board with that.”
The goal for Danville is to have its defense translate to offense, creating fast-break scoring opportunities off of turnovers.
Weakness: Inexperience
Any time a team loses three four-year starters to graduation, on-court cohesiveness will be a challenge at the beginning of the next season. Proper said his team’s chemistry is improving, although it will be a work in progress.
“Once again, learning our niche and our role. Playing with each other, just getting out there and playing, understanding the tendencies of our teammates. If this happens, what’s she going to do, or if this happens, what’s she going to do. And we can anticipate a little more, as opposed to reacting and being a step behind,” Proper said.
“That’s the big thing, and it’s kind of the big thing every year when you lose players to graduation like that.”
Goals and expectations: KMAC title, playoff run
“They obviously want to work toward the KMAC title. This is our second year in the league, so last year we kind of figured out what that’s about and now they kind of understand that,” Proper said. “So go after that and get back to the district championship game, I think was our second goal.”
East Knox Bulldogs
2017-18 record: 5-16 (3-11 in KMAC)
KMAC finish: 7th
Tournament finish: First round (lost to Amanda Clearcreek, 56-38)
Head coach: Chip Pozderac (2nd year)
Who’s back: Meggan Bartok (second-team All-KMAC), Ashley Van Hoose (honorable mention All-KMAC), Sydney Buckingham, Morgan McCauley
Who graduated: Kaylie Crouch, Emily Opfer
Experienced Bulldogs seek first winning season since ‘97
East Knox will bring back the most pieces of any Knox County team this winter, as the Bulldogs will return 10 varsity letterwinners from last year’s squad. They will also welcome in Taylor Nunamaker, a senior transfer from Olentangy Orange.
Among the returners are Bartok, who led the team in points (11.5 per game), rebounds (7.2 per game) and assists (2.3 per game) last season. Buckingham averaged 5.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as a junior, while McCauley contributed 5.3 points and 5.3 boards per game in her sophomore campaign. Van Hoose averaged 4.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in 2017-18.
While Crouch played in all 23 games (averaging 1.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per contest), Opfer played in just seven.
“We’ve got a lot of senior leadership, which is nice,” Pozderac said. “I have five seniors. So we have kids that have played together.”
The challenge will be translating this experience into wins. Despite their record, the Bulldogs challenged the conference’s brass last season, although they often couldn’t finish the deal. They lost eight conference games by 10 points or less, and lost to second-place Centerburg twice by single digits.
“You know, we were in the hunt a couple times last year and at the end, just didn’t have it,” Pozderac said. “Sometimes you’ve gotta learn how to win.”
East Knox will look to bridge that gap this season, as the Bulldogs seek their first winning season since 1997.
Strength: Guard play
While East Knox may be undersized, its backcourt is deep and talented. Pozderac had high praise for both Bartok and Van Hoose, who are efficient and aggressive on both ends of the floor.
“She has some AAU experience,” Pozderac said of Bartok. “She was great hands. She can bring the ball up the floor. She’s left-handed, which helps. And she’s got a desire. I mean, when she wants to, there’s nobody that I think can stop her.”
“Ashley is just a phenomenal defensive player, so that’s always been strong,” she said of Van Hoose.
Pozderac said that her team plans to use its speed to its advantage, as it will look to get up and down the floor quickly to create scoring opportunities.
“If we sit back on our heels, we’re not good. So our strengths are, we’ve got guards that can move the basketball,” Pozderac said. “We’re going to have troubles with some of these bigger teams, so we have to compensate that with a little more running.”
Pozderac said the team has also improved at shooting over the offseason, which was a weakness last year.
Weakness: Mindset
No matter how experienced a team is, developing a winning mindset can be difficult. After all, East Knox hasn’t had a winning season in over two decades. In her second season as head coach, Pozderac has made it her mission to focus the team on daily improvement, developing consistent intensity at practices and stressing the fundamentals.
That, she believes, will lead to a culture shift over time.
“They sometimes don’t have that intensity. Their expectations aren’t as high as mine,” Pozderac said of the team. “So I don’t know if they’re complacent with, ‘Eh, we’ll win a couple ball games, we’re having fun, we’re good,’ whereas I’m like, ‘Yeah, not good.’ I want to be competitive. So it’s a change in the way you’re thinking.
“That’s something you could say we’re struggling with; we’re changing our thinking of how we are going to approach this season, which leads to some of that intensity in practice.”
Goals and expectations: Getting over the .500 hump
“We’d like to have a winning season,” Pozderac said. “The school hasn’t had one since 1997, I believe. We looked it up, the girls pulled out the old yearbooks. I don’t think they’ve had a winning season since ‘97, so that’s our number one goal.”
Fredericktown Freddies
2017-18 record: 2-19 (2-12 in KMAC)
KMAC finish: 8th
Tournament finish: Second round, following first-round bye (lost to Amanda Clearcreek, 52-19)
Head coach: Tim Maceyko (1st year)
Who’s back: Sophie Lester (honorable mention All-KMAC), Olivia Mast, Haylee Hulse
Who graduated: Raven Clagg
New coach brings run-and-gun style to Fredericktown
Fredericktown will begin a new chapter this winter after the retirement of former head coach Jim Lester in the offseason. Lester stepped down after five years at the helm, which included a league title in his first season.
Maceyko comes from Cardington, where he had coached eighth grade basketball for a number of years. The first-year coach plans to implement a run-and-gun style of offense, similar to the kind Loyola Marymount and UNLV ran in the 80s and 90s. Maceyko said his team should shoot at least 70 times per game, or once every 12 seconds.
“I believe that we, as coaches, tend to over-coach sometimes and it seems like the slow-down, ball-control pace has become the norm. However, it isn’t nearly as much fun for the kids as a run-and-gun system is,” Maceyko said.
“Whether it translates into more wins or not is debatable and some people believe that you need to slow down and call plays and all of those things, but I at least know that the girls will enjoy playing the game in our system. Every player enjoys the freedom to be creative and to be let loose on the court. Our system does exactly that. We work hard in practice, coach them up, and then let them go play.”
Maceyko said his team spends 20-30 minutes every day at practice doing various shooting drills. They also work on their full-court press defense, which Maceyko hopes will feed into the up-tempo offense.
“When we combine the aggressive defense with the transition offense it creates chaos – sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always fun,” Maceyko said.
Maceyko’s novel gameplan will be executed by a young roster, as only one senior (Lester) will play on the team this season. As the years go by, Maceyko hopes that the younger classes will be able to pick up the run-and-gun style quicker and quicker, to the point where it becomes the program’s identity.
“We still need to understand the logic and reasoning of why we do what we do. Once that clicks for the girls, I think we will take that next step,” Maceyko said. “With only one senior, we are not only playing for this year, but we are working to create something for the future as well. It’s exciting to see the growth we’ve had in just a couple of weeks.”
Strength: Perimeter shooting
The Freddies will need to shoot at a high level in order to make this offense work. Luckily for Maceyko, he believes he already has several returners who can do that.
“We have several girls who can shoot the three and we have decent speed so it makes sense to adapt to this style,” Maceyko said. “We’d rather see a quick shot in transition than a possession where we run a set play, make four passes, and then throw the ball away. We want to go back to basic basketball, in its purest form. Just play and enjoy the game. That’s it.”
Maceyko noted that Fredericktown put up 70 points in its first scrimmage against Mansfield Christian and “won a few quarters” in a scrimmage against Elgin, which went undefeated in its league last year. The Freddies shot 7-of-17 from three-point range in that scrimmage, Maceyko said.
Fredericktown will need its upperclassmen – Lester, Mast and Hulse – to take (and make) shots this year if it wants to climb back into the conference title conversation.
Weakness: Youth
With just one senior on the roster, Fredericktown will also count on its underclassmen to step up and produce. Maceyko plans to go deep into his bench, given in his up-tempo style of play, which means that freshmen and sophomores will see playing time early and often.
“It’s always tough when you have a younger team,” Maceyko said. “But I have some really good freshmen and sophomores who are going to get ample playing time.”
Maceyko expects sophomores Jacklyn Nussbaum, Summer Weller and Tayler Overholt to play early on, alongside freshmen Gabby Daniels and Celeste Swihart.
Goals and expectations: Change the culture
“There hasn’t been a lot of success with this particular group, so there aren’t a lot of expectations when it comes to wins and losses,” Maceyko said. “I’m trying to be objective in saying, you know, I don’t know what the wins and losses are going to be. We’re trying to change that mentality of, just have fun and enjoy it and enjoy the process.”
Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets
2017-18 record: 12-12 (6-6 in OCC)
OCC finish: Tied for 3rd (with Ashland)
Tournament finish: Second round (lost to Westerville South, 64-28)
Head coach: Doug Savage (6th year, but has coached off-and-on since 1975)
Who’s back: Layne Lepley (honorable mention All-OCC), Macee Marcum (honorable mention All-OCC), Bryn Elliott
Who graduated: Peyton McCord (first-team All-OCC), Maggie Nussbaum (second-team All-OCC), Audrey Fiorilli, Jada Kennerly
Young Jackets look to contend after losing four starters
The Yellow Jackets welcome back just one starter from last year’s team, which finished one game short of a second-place tie in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Mount Vernon hosted Lexington in its final conference game of the season, and had the Jackets won, they would have tied with the Minutemen for second place. They lost in a heartbreaker, however, as they gave up a five-point fourth quarter lead to lose by three.
The Jackets will miss production from McCord, Nussbaum, Fiorilli and Kennerly this season, as all four seniors started and played a major role on last year’s team. McCord was the team’s leading scorer (13 points per game) and rebounder (10.3 boards per game), and provided a strong interior presence. Nussbaum was the team’s second-leading scorer (11.5 points per game) and led the team in three-pointers made (1.5 per game). Fiorilli served as a solid defender and role player, while Kennerly led the team in assists (2.2 per game) and steals (1.6 per game).
Lepley, the team’s third-leading scorer from last year (8 points per game) and second-leading rebounder (3.8 boards per game), will anchor the team this season. Marcum and Elliot came off the bench last year, averaging 5.6 and 3.2 points per game, respectively. Savvy Blubaugh, who played mostly JV last year, will also play a bigger role at the varsity level this year, Savage said. Blubaugh, Lepley and Marcum are the team’s three seniors.
“You know, I thought we were extremely young last year, other than the four seniors that I started. We had a lot of freshmen up on our JVs and so on and so forth. But we’ve almost gotten younger this year with the three seniors, two juniors, I think we have seven sophomores and then the rest are freshmen,” Savage said.
“So practices and things like that, you’re dealing with a lot of younger kids, teaching them drills and so forth. But you know high school sports, everybody graduates and moves on and younger kids come in and replace, so that’s the way it goes.”
Strength: Defense
Mount Vernon gave up just 46 points per game last year, and Savage expects that number to stay low again this season with his program’s trademark man-to-man approach.
“I want to have a hard-nosed, tough, aggressive defensive team that forces teams into shooting contested shots, low-percentage shots, and hopefully we can limit them to one missed shot and then come up with a rebound,” Savage said. “I would think that defense is probably one of our strengths.”
Offensive aggressiveness should also be a strength for Mount Vernon again this season. Last year, the Jackets shot 415 free throws (making 64 percent), while their opponents shot only 294.
“We’re hoping to gain an advantage at the free throw line by us not fouling, and driving a little bit more – getting ourselves to the free throw line more than our opponents,” Savage said.
Weakness: Rebounding
Aside from inexperience, Mount Vernon will also face challenges on the glass this year. The team’s tallest player is freshman McKenna Brokaw (5-foot-9), who will work alongside Marcum (5-foot-8) down low to haul in the majority of the rebounds. Given the team’s size disadvantage, Savage said it will need to be a team effort on the glass every night this season.
“We try to stress gang rebounding, getting five girls to the boards as much as possible. But I know from past experience, we’re going to play some teams that are really big,” Savage said.
“We could give up quite a few offensive rebounds for put-backs and we probably won’t get a ton of offensive rebounds for putbacks ourselves. So that’s probably what I see at this point as our biggest weakness.”
Savage said his team could also struggle handling full-court pressure, given his backcourt’s inexperience.
Goals and expectations: Improvement and contention
“Well every season, first and foremost, our number one goal is to try to be the league champion. You know, again this year that would be our goal. That’s a pretty lofty, pretty high goal for us to have,” Savage said.
“So I guess from the coaching standpoint, my goal would be just to continue to improve day-by-day, just try to win the day and improve a little bit.”
