Girls Basketball Preview 2022

Expectations Are High For Tyler Consolidated in 2022-23

KIDWELL – Expectations are high for the Tyler Consolidated girls’ basketball team with plenty of experience from six seniors and a group of very talented underclassmen. And while the six seniors will see plenty of playing time, it is a junior and a sophomore that has Coach Tom Phillips the most excited. Junior Braedon Wall (5-9, G) returns to lead the way while sophomore Julianna Lattea (5-7, F) is a beast inside. “We are excited about the overall turnout that we have this year,” Phillips said. “And for us it starts with Braedan Wall and Julianna Lattea. Julianna was ...

John Marshall Girls Young But Eager To Prove Themselves

MOUNDSVILLE — The John Marshall girls’ basketball team is looking to make some noise this season against some of the more dominant teams on its schedule. To do that, coach Brock Melko and company will have to do it with a much younger but promising group of players. “We had an up and down season last year,” Melko said. “My biggest takeaway is that we probably beat the teams we should have beaten and didn’t beat the teams who were better than us. I was happy with our effort but we just never had a moment to hang our hat on. We’re focused on building on that and trying ...

Magnolia Wiser After Gaining Valuable Experience In 2021

NEW MARTINSVILLE — The 2021 basketball campaign and the summer that followed was all about gaining experience for the Magnolia girls’ basketball team. Blue Eagles’ coach Kasey Sapp feels his squad took full advantage of that time and hopes it shows on the court in the upcoming season. “Last season was really important to us from an experience standpoint,” Sapp said. “We took our lumps early but saw growth by the end of the year. The most important thing we got out of last season was meaningful varsity experience for a lot of our returners this year. Then, our major focus ...

Brooke Returns 4 Starters, But Must Replace Point Guard

WELLSBURG — The Brooke Bruins return four starters from last season’s team, including leading scorer and rebounder Ava Bolen. But what the Bruins must replace is their leader and floor general, as Madison Platt has already scored her first collegiate points for Waynesburg College and her teammates and former coach are still searching for the next point guard to wear the Green & Gold. So while four of the five starting spots are already decided and held by experienced players, that fifth is still a major question mark heading into the season “That’s still to be determined, ...

St. Clairsville Must Find Some Ballhandling That Graduated

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – As Stacey Agnew enters his ninth season as head coach of the St. Clairsville girls’ basketball program, he is optimistic as to how good the Red Devils can be in 2022-23. “We lost three seniors in Shae Brookover, Alexis Thoburn and Sydney Miller,” he said. “We lost a lot of points with those three and most of our ball handling with Shae.” Brookover and Thoburn were both four-year letterwinners and Miller lettered twice. Brookover and Thoburn were both first team All-District last winter. However, St. Clairsville returns four letterwinners and a couple ...

Bellaire Undersized, But Farrier Will Have Them Ready To Play Every Night

BELLAIRE — This just in from the not-so-breaking-news department … the Bellaire girls basketball team is undersized. Because of their style and ability to guard in the full court, being smaller hasn’t been an issue since John Farrier took over the reins of the program. The Lady Reds head coach hopes the experience and athleticism prove to be more than enough to cover up for the fact that no player on the 10-player roster stands taller than 5-8. “The size is a battle we’re used to fighting,” Farrier said. “We plan to use our speed and athleticism to create problems for ...