By Bryan Bloodworth
BLOOMINGTON – A fourth-place finish in the Class 3A state volleyball finals has had a definite effect on the Central Catholic girls’ basketball team at the start of the season, but veteran coach Debby Coffman remains optimistic.
A number of the players had to trade volleyball gear for basketball gear in less than 48 hours, so Coffman knows things will be shaky in the beginning. But she’s also been around long enough to know that’s it’s not how you start, but how you finish.
PODCAST: Listen to Coffman interview here
“That’s so true,” said the 19-year veteran, whose team returns 10 letter winners, including four starters from last year’s 22-7 Elite Eight team. “We’re going to miss the three seniors that we had last year, but we have a lot of players back, who started throughout the year last year. We have a lot of young players and I think we’re going to get better and better as the season progresses.”
Returning starters include senior Ellie Stevens, junior Sarah Brady along with sophomores Lauren Shanks and Bailey Coffman. Brady was the team’s second-leading scorer last year with a 10.5 per game average.
Stevens, Coffman and junior Maddie Malinowski give the Saints a veteran post presence, while senior Kennedy Sheehan, Shanks and Brady will man the guard spots. Junior returnee Maggie Stopa should provide good depth along with other returning players seniors Lauren Mathewson, Cassidy Kessinger and Hannah Kessinger.
“We’ll be the aame kind of team that we saw last year and years previous,” added Coffman. “We’re going to press and be an up-and-down the floor transition team. This team might be a little bit more patient on offense from what I saw over the summer.
“We like to be the defensive stoppers. They’re great teammates. They worked hard this summer and I think they’re going to get a long and it’s going to be a fun group.”
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
