TVCC is top choice by coaches
Longview News
Journal
Thursday, October 16, 2008
TYLER — While teams on the men's side of NJCAA Region XIV basketball must deal with two new squads, the women can concentrate on the same old faces. A couple of familiar faces sat atop the preseason coaches' poll Wednesday at the 11th annual Region XIV Conference Media Tip-Off.
Defending champion and perennial power Trinity Valley received nine of 10 first-place votes for the top spot, followed by Tyler and Blinn. Panola came in fifth, while Kilgore College was No. 8, a single point behind seventh-place Lon Morris. The fifth and eighth spots, respectively, are exactly where Panola and Kilgore finished the 2008 regular season. Panola was 21-11 overall and 10-8 in Region XIV, while KC finished 11-15 and 5-13.
Kilgore College
Entering his third year, KC head coach Roy Thomas has yet to reach a postseason tournament with the Lady Rangers, but said Wednesday he likes his team.
"We've got 10 or 12 bodies and eight or nine of them are not bad players. We can run if we want to and, if not, we can set up and play a halfcourt game," Thomas said. "I'm very happy about what we've got in here for this year."
Thomas expects 5-8 Denetra Kellum and 6-1 Janae Henderson, his top two returnees, to play large roles in the Lady Rangers' plans this season. Kellum averaged 12.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in 2007-08. Henderson averaged seven points and shot 57.7 percent from the floor.
"(Kellum) has a chance to be a really, really good player," Thomas said. "If she had played like she's capable of playing, I felt like she could have been the Newcomer of the Year as a freshman."
Thomas expects to get help from a pair of transfers — 5-10 Ashley Ferrell (Odessa) and 5-7 Teniqua Gray (UL Monroe). He added that 5-6 Napoleonville, La., freshman Danyell Oliver is "one of the best shooters I've ever coached, boy or girl." Thomas also praised the offseason efforts of 5-8 sophomore Elise Kea.
"If I had to give a trophy today for the most improved and hardest worker it would probably be Elise Kea," Thomas said. "She started a lot of the time (last year) and got some play, but just didn't really have a good year. But she's really worked hard and is doing a good job this year."
Panola
Fillies head coach Tracey Stellato must replace several key contributors from the past two seasons, including last year's Region XIV top scorer in Kim Edmonson (17.2 points per game). Edmonson played Panola's three-lane position, which is tailored to be the top scorer thanks to plenty of opportunities to drive and also sag to the corner for three-point attempts.
"We've got three freshmen running that lane right now," Stellato said.
Bossier City, La., freshman Katie McCoy is one of those three, and Stellato believes she could be the answer.
"For us, that three-man needs to be just as good a shooter as the two-guard," Stellato said.
Panola also must replace guards Melissa White and Jasmine Brown and forward Vedrana Milakovic. White led the conference in steals (3.5). Brown was the league leader in three-point makes and attempts and Panola's second-leading scorer (12.2). Milakovic could play all three frontcourt positions and did most of the Fillies' dirty work.
Stellato said Panola has more size and length than in the past, which could ease the transition with 13 newcomers. Tatsiana Zhurauliova, a native of Belarus, will provide some of that size. Stellato said Zhurauliova is big, but skilled on the block.
The size increase doesn't mean anything different schematically for a Panola team that attempted about 30 triples per game last season.
"The philosophy's the same: Offensively, the first-best look, still like to shoot the three," Stellato said. "But it's a whole lot easier to get that open three on the perimeter when you've got somebody you can throw it to on the block."
* * *
REGION XIV CONFERENCE WOMEN'S POLL
Trinity Valley (9): 99
Tyler: 83
Blinn (1): 75
Angelina: 72
Panola: 58
Paris: 42
Lon Morris: 37
Kilgore: 36
Jacksonville: 29
San Jacinto: 19
Find this article at:
http://www.news-journal.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2008/10/16/10162008_jucowomen_story_.html