Under Head Coach Katie Cross, the Perkins County Lady Plainsmen Basketball team includes (front row, l-r): Mallory McClenahan, Meghan Bishop, Juels Lyon, Dani Burge, Riley Huff, Hannah Kempf and Samantha Patrick. Back row: Annabell Wagnitz, Sarah Cockerill, Kylie Tucker, Autumn Anderson, Hallie Fisher, Kiara Schulze, Kayleigh Kimbrue, Meredith Gloy and Savannah Clark. Not pictured: Kaylee Dilsaver.
Rebuilding process continues for Lady Plainsmen
Lady Plainsmen Coach Katie Cross said her team is starting in a much better place this year compared to last.
That being said, there’s still lots of room for improvement as the rebuilding process continues for the coach in her second year at the helm.
She’ll be looking to juniors Hannah Kempf, Rylie Huff and Dani Burge, each with two years of varsity experience, to pace this year’s squad.
Four of her eight sophomores, Kiara Schultze, Hallie Fisher, Sam Patrick and Meghan Bishop, gained valuable varsity experience last year as well.
Four other sophomores, Juels Lyon, Kylie Tucker, Autumn Anderson and Savanah Clark will be vying for varsity jerseys as well.
Cross said she starts fresh each season on who will make varsity so there’s plenty of competition.
That competition will continue into this week’s practice as the team gets ready for their season opener here against Hershey Thursday night.
On Friday, they will travel to Wray.
Cross said the girls played in summer league and those efforts are starting to show fundamentally.
She said the team has improved “leaps and bounds” fundamentally over last year but there’s still room to improve by leaps and bounds this season.
They are building on their basketball knowledge and now need to learn how to react in game situations, she noted.
The girls are showing more confidence in their ability to score, she added.
Hershey, Wray
Cross said they will open the season against a Hershey team that likes to play fast and aggressive. They lost a lot of experience to graduation and have a new coach but always present a challenge for any opponent.
She expects to see plenty of pressure defense when they travel to Wray Friday.
As for the SPVA conference, a lot of good players graduated last year. She noted Chase County will put a fast and sound team on the floor under a new coach. Bridgeport also has a new coach this season.
Game time against Hershey is set for 3:30 p.m. MT with jayvee games followed by the girls and boys varsity contests.
Jayvee tipoff at Wray is scheduled for 4 p.m. MT.
Cross has five freshman who have joined the program this season. They include Kaylee Dilsaver, Kayliegh Kimbrue, Mallory McClanahan, Meredith Gloy and Sarah Cockerill.