Girls hope experience equals wins

Jason Ferguson

Published: Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

While last year’s 9-13 finish wasn’t a banner season for the Custer High School girls basketball team, it did provide ample opportunity for many young players to get experience. With nine players who saw varsity action returning to the court for the ’Cats this season, head coach Paul Anderson hopes that experience translates into more wins. “When you get a year under your belt, it makes a huge difference,” Anderson said. “We’re also physically stronger than last year. We got pushed around a little last year. That’s one of the areas we needed to improve on.” Anderson, entering his sixth year as head coach, guided the Wildcats to a 7-7 record in the Black Hills Conference a year ago. He will count on four players who have starting experience for Custer to lead the team this winter. Among those returners are junior  forward Shawna Gibson, who led the team in scoring a year ago. Other returning starters include forward Megan Harkin (5-8, Sr.) and guard Sam Harrison (5-4, Sr.). Senior forward Taava Cooper also rejoins the team this year, after spending last season attending school at Rapid City Stevens. Cooper started for the ’Cats as a sophomore two years ago. Other players expected to see considerable time for Custer include guards Allison Kostelecky (5-3, Jr.) and Ariel Cisneros (5-5, Jr.), forwards Laura Muse (5-9, Sr.) and Haley Davenport (5-7, Sr.) and centers Melissa Flores (5-11, Jr.) and Zoey Bradeen (5-8, Jr.). “The girls are working very hard,” Anderson said. “There is good intensity in practice. I’ve seen a lot of improvement since last year.” The team will no doubt miss graduated seniors Claire Carson and Nicole Bryant, both of whom were All-Conference performers a year ago. Overall, numbers are down. Anderson said 22 players are out for the team this year. Anderson said early practices have included an emphasis on  shooting. The Wildcats struggled to score last year, and hit only 59 percent of their attempts from the free throw line. “That’s not very good. You have to put those in,” he said. “We weren’t a very good shooting basketball team last year.” As is usually the case, the team will try to focus on limiting turnovers—one of Anderson’s main focuses every year—as well as a stated goal to try to outrebound their opponents overall this year. Fans of the team will see the ’Cats push the ball up the floor more this year than in years past in an attempt to create more easy buckets in transition. “We believe we have some players who can get up and down the floor a little more,” Anderson said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to become a run-and-gun team, but we will push it when the opportunity presents itself.” St. Thomas More ran away with the conference crown a year ago, and Anderson said both they and Newell will once again be tough teams. However, he said overall the entire Black Hills Conference will be competitive—and he expects the Wildcats to give any team it plays fits as well. “I think we will be competitive with every team in the conference,” he said. Fans will get their first glimpse of this year’s team Thursday night when the Douglas Patriots come to the armory. “Early in the season, you’re looking for your own development. As time goes along, we want to continue to improve,” he said. “If we’re able to learn from the experience we gained last year and gain confidence as the year goes along, we’ll be playing our best basketball at the end of the year.”