“Our man-to-man defense and what little bit of zone we play has been really good lately,” said Tigers longtime coach Dennis McIntosh. “These kids all work well together, especially our guards. They seem to know where each other is going to be all the time. Our posts have been able to limit the offensive rebounds the other teams have gotten. We haven’t given up a lot of second-chance points in games.”
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The two-time defending OHC North champion Tigers graduated their two leading scorers from last year’s squad in Gabby Hollar and Kelsey Day. The squad has no seniors, but a strong junior class has been there to pick up the slack, McIntosh said.
“They’ve been around it,” McIntosh said. “They’ve had to take up being leaders of the team a little earlier than most kids would’ve had to, but I think they’ve done a great job of it. The past two years experience of playing with (last year’s seniors) has really paid off for them.”
WL-S junior post Selena Weaver is averaging 15.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, while junior guard Grace Estes is averaging 9.1 ppg.
Offensively, the Tigers have continued to improve throughout the season, McIntosh said. They’re averaging nearly 44 points per game.
“We’ve cut down the turnovers since Christmas,” he said. “We’re really patient on offense at times. We’ve been able to make 10, 12, 15 passes before we got the shot we wanted. They’ve been really good about it.”
Sophomore guard Emily Hollar is averaging 9.8 points, 4.2 steals and 3.9 assists this season. Backcourt mates Hollar and Estes complement each other well, McIntosh said.
“They both love to have the ball in their hands,” McIntosh said. “They do a good job of getting us in our offense. They’ve both taken turns having big nights for us.”
The Tigers know a tenacious defense will be the key to their success this season, especially rebounding. They’ve done that through 12 games this season, he said.
“Rebounding has a lot to do with it,” McIntosh said. “We don’t give up a lot of offensive rebounds. We preach defensively that we have to have five people go after the basketball when the other team shoots. We don’t get a lot of fast breaks unless we get a steal. We want to make sure we get the rebound first.”
The Tigers didn’t play a game for more than two weeks in December as several of the players participated in a band trip to Florida right before the holiday break, forcing several games to be rescheduled. They’ll play three days a week for most of the remainder of the season, McIntosh said, including tough non-conference road games against Versailles, Anna and Jonathan Alder.
WL-S hosts Catholic Central in a key OHC crossover game on Thursday and have two divisional games remaining against Champaign County rival Mechanicsburg (13-1, 9-0 OHC North).
They’re hoping the competition will prepare them for a long postseason run. The Tigers also play five straight road games to end the season.
“It’s going to be a challenge down the stretch for us,” McIntosh said. “We’ll be used to getting on the bus and going somewhere that’s for sure.”
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