BonnerSprings.com

Not many teams can lose seven seniors and not call the following season a rebuilding year.

In fact, many coaches would jump at the chance to excuse their team from having expectations at all, but the 2008-2009 Bonner Springs Bravettes are an exception to the rule — they expect to be better than they were a year ago.

“This is not a rebuilding year,” BSHS Clay Oakes said. “We feel like we have the pieces in place to finish in the top half of the league. We will be better [because] we have a bit more height, which will help us on defense.”

Bonner Springs returns only three varsity letter winners to the team that has only five upperclassmen. Senior Starian Porchia, junior Lindsay Ostman and sophomore Erica Smith played varsity last year for the Bravettes and likely will be in the starting lineup when the season starts.

Last year BSHS struggled to a 5-16 record and finished eighth in the Kaw Valley League. Oakes said that they really had trouble defending the 6-footers on opposing teams, but this year he may have a couple of answers. This year he has height — and lots of it. Several girls are between 5-foot-10 and 6 feet tall, including transfer Malia Williams.

Williams will be the team’s starting center and maybe its best player. She is good around the basket on offense, a solid defender in the low post and she runs the floor well for a taller player, according to Oakes. He also said she is the leading candidate for team MVP.

Rounding out the starting five is another newcomer to Bonner Springs, freshman point guard Yessenia Hernandez. She will bring a lot to the team with her ball-handling ability and her quickness and speed.

“[Yessenia] does things the right way,” Oakes said. “She has great poise and is always in control on the court. I always find it hard to believe that she is only a freshman.”

Senior Anna Hutchison and junior Meg Fowler will be the first two players off the bench to complete the seven player rotation Oakes is planning on going with, though he has not ruled out the possibility that some freshmen may push to get playing time on the varsity level. For now, however, he plans on taking a wait-and-see approach to see how his team develops.

“It is going to be hard since we are so young. We aren’t going to put a lot of pressure on the freshmen and sophomores,” Oakes said. “We are going to keep it simple and relaxed — just try not to complicate things.”

Oakes said his team’s desire is tremendous. They work hard — and they want to work hard, and it shows in practice. This desire did not just start, though. It has been building all offseason for the basketball team. This summer the BSHS girls played in about 30 games, something Oakes hopes will translate into valuable experience. Once fall rolled around, even the girls that didn’t go out for fall sports were running and lifting weights preparing for the season. That is what Oakes is excited about.

“I really like this team’s ability to motivate each other … how they work together playing team basketball,” Oakes said. “That, along with their commitment, could give us a good chance once postseason comes around. We’ll just have to see how they respond.”

The Bravettes will face a tough challenge right out of the gate when they play host to Lansing on Friday, Dec. 5. The week following the opener BSHS plays host to the Metro Prep Tournament featuring heavy hitters like Bishop Miege, Shawnee Heights, Savannah (Mo.) and Lawrence Free State.

“[This stretch] is going to be all about weathering the storm,” Oakes said. “It will allow us to gauge where we are, but we have to make sure that the younger girls don’t get frustrated.”

Comments