Local Sports
Archives
| Arts & Entertainment
| Audio/Video
| Business
| Classifieds
| Columns
| Food
| Forums
| Health & Fitness
| News
| Obits
| Opinions
| People
| Politics
| Science/Technology
| Search
| Sports
| Subscribe
| Travel
| Weather
Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Monday, November 12, 2001
Veterans scarce for Calallen
There’s plenty of new faces playing for the Lady Wildcats
By Lee Goddard
Caller-Times
|
|
David Adame/Caller-Times
|
|
Calallen's Lauren Ellison (center) and Monica Pena (right) are the only two returning starters from last year's Lady Wildcats varsity basketball team.
|
The bar was raised last season for the Calallen girls basketball team.
The Lady Wildcats reached the state tournament for the first time under coach Beverly Barker, and did it with a balanced, unselfish core group.
"They set that high standard," Barker said. "That's what we have to live up to now."
But the team that has to live up to this standard is almost totally new. Barker lost 10 seniors, including starting posts Kendra Felder and Mary Montez and guard Gerilynne Setliff. Only four letter winners and two starters return from the team whose playoff run was ended by Plainview, the top-ranked team in the state.
It's those two starters - senior forward Monica Pena and junior guard Lauren Ellsion - that are central to the Lady Wildcats' hopes. Pena was the District 31-4A Most Valuable Player last season, and Ellison was a first-team selection. Pena is a tough player, scrappy on the boards. Ellison is a brilliant distributor and solid defender.
It's leadership - the vocal kind - that each wants to assert.
"Last year, I wasn't as vocal as this year," said Pena, who averaged 10 points and four boards per game. "We had 10 seniors, and I didn't have to be as vocal. I knew my role. My role has changed. Last year, it was more on the court with my actions. This year, I have to be more vocal."
|
|
David Adame/Caller-Times
|
|
Senior forward Monica Pena is one of only two returning starters for the Calallen girls' basketball team.
|
Ellison finds herself in the opposite situation from last season. She was only a sophomore, being brought in among a senior-dominated team. Now she is a playoff-tested veteran.
"Last year, I looked up to Gerilynne and Kendra and Mary," said Ellison, who averaged eight points and 3.5 steals per game. "They always gave me encouragement. Now I have to be encouraging to (her new teammates). We have some girls that are nervous in what they have to do."
Like Pena and Ellison, those players will have new roles. Barker is going to lean heavily on junior varsity players, who will get their first taste of varsity action. Barker's projected roster has a total of seven seasons of varsity experience combined, eight players with only junior varsity experience and even two freshmen.
This team will be thrown up against a pre-district schedule that features some of the area's best Class 5A teams, and a variety of tournaments. Just like last season when Barker steadily built her team toward a playoff run, this team will be wholly prepared by the time district play rolls around.
That plan worked for the last edition of the Lady Wildcats who, as the playoffs started in February, were a close-knit team that could beat opponents in a variety of ways.
"What really matters is where you are at the end of the year, not the beginning," Barker said. "Yes, it matters how you play. Yes, we want to win. But the beginning is about learning and building chemistry. It's all about preparing for district. Our goal is to get better every time we play."
This isn't to say Calallen, which finished 26-8 last season, is going to be down. Barker thinks this edition of the Lady Wildcats has the potential - she stressed potential - to be even better than last year.
"I think they're talented in different ways," Barker said. "I see some good things in the kids here. Potential-wise, they could be better. That's one of the things we're working on."
But Barker has some time - until maybe February - to help that potential to become realized.
Contact Lee Goddard at 886-3613 or goddardl@caller.com
| Talk
about this story | Next Story | Home
|
© 2001,
a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
|
 |
 |
|
