In its second season under head coach Phil Bychurch, the Hahnville girls basketball team is off to a strong start to the 2014-15 season.
The Lady Tigers are 7-5 so far, with wins over local foes St. James and Lutcher among its notable outings.
But youth must still be served for a team featuring just three seniors. Hahnville hosted the St. Charles Shootout tournament last weekend and took some lumps against quality competition, going 1-2: HHS fell to Slidell, 63-41, and South Lafourche, 71-27. It defeated Ascension Catholic by forfeit.
Bychurch said his team gained important experience against a group of strong teams. While the Tigers absorbed losses to Slidell and South Lafourche, those teams combined for records of 21-5 entering this week.
“We played some very tough teams,” Bychurch said. “But I thought we played well, played aggressive, played together. We’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’re very young. We hustled all weekend, and I can’t ask our players for more than that.”
Bychurch said the area his team can find the most rapid improvement is at the defensive end.
“We’ve struggled defensively,” he said. “Overall, I can see us coming around, but if we can play smarter at that end, we’ll be much better for it … I believe defense wins championships, when it gets right down to it. When you get it done on defense, that leads to opportunities on the offensive end.”
The key element there, he said, is finishing off defensive possessions with the ball, by blocking out consistently and not allowing offensive rebounds.
“We can’t allow second and third chances,” Bychurch said. “We need to get the board, outlet (pass) and go.”
A positive effect of boasting such a young team is that players have the chance to ascend to a lead role early and grow. Such is true with the Tigers: sophomore guard Yasah Gale and sophomore forward Raegan Crawford are each off to strong starts this season, flashing promise of an inside/outside combination that could prove tough for opponents to deal with for a long time. Gale is averaging 13 points per game as the team’s most dangerous perimeter shooter, while Crawford is chipping in 10 points per game, working primarily in the paint.
“They each have engines that don’t stop,” Bychurch said.
With the tournament in the books, Hahnville has enjoyed a bit of a break, with their next action coming up on Monday at Assumption (5-5). Then comes the Lady Tigers’ first district game, a road clash with H.L. Bourgeois (3-9).
“We want to start off with a win in district play and not get caught chasing from the back of the pack,” Bychurch said.
Be the first to comment