Liberty Bell coach Ed Smith talked about shooting technique with Amanda Dwinell at Monday’s practice.
By Don Nelson
Experience will be an important factor this season for the Liberty Bell High School varsity girls’ basketball team, which returns four starters from last year’s squad.
Leading scorers Lauren Fitzmaurice (12 points and 6.5 rebounds per game) and Katie Labanauskas (8.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game) will be joined by guards Lauren Ochoa and Exie Romero from the 2015 – 16 starting five. Monica Chavey was the only senior on last year’s team.
Romero is recovering from shoulder surgery and probably won’t play until late this year or early next year, Liberty Bell coach Ed Smith said. But Haley Bakke, returning from knee surgery that ended her season last year, will provide experience along with Carlynn Treise, who will be the fifth starter for now. Amanda Dwinell is also expected to see a fair amount of playing time. Freshman Tommie Ochoa shows promise as well, Smith said.
“The experience really does help because you don’t have to do a lot of training,” Smith said. “They pick up where they left off. And experience builds confidence.”
Liberty Bell also played some summer games to keep the players’ skills sharp.
Last year’s leading scorer, Lauren Fitzmaurice, moved to the basket.
When everyone is healthy, “Then I’ll have a problem I’ll enjoy, finding playing time for everyone,” the coach said.
The Lady Lions finished last year with an overall record of 5 – 13 and a league record of 4 – 10. Liberty Bell would likely have made the playoffs had it finished some games more strongly. Occasional defensive lapses last season also cost the Lady Lions, something Smith is emphasizing this year.
“Offense will only take you so far,” he said. “Great defense will lead to a good offense.”
The team has been working hard on fundamentals, Smith said, but practices have been somewhat hampered because several key players including Fitzmaurice and Lauren Ochoa were still playing soccer.
“I’d like to see us get off to a faster start this year,” Smith said. “We’ll have a good idea where we are after next week.”
Coaching the junior varsity this year is Deed Fink.
The Lady Lions saw their first competitive action on Tuesday (Nov. 29) at the Okanogan Jamboree, where they faced Okanogan and Tonasket. The season formally begins with a home game against Okanogan on Thursday (Dec. 1), with tip-off at 6 p.m.
Next week, Liberty Bell will travel to Waterville-Mansfield on Tuesday (Dec. 6), host Lake Roosevelt on Thursday (Dec. 8), and then is back on the road at Brewster on Saturday, Dec. 10.
