By Brandon Walker EBS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
BIG SKY – No matter the level of play, veteran leadership is
a valuable asset to athletic teams everywhere. Whether at the professional or
high school level, teams typically lean on those who have ‘been there before’
to guide them throughout the year and especially into the postseason. Following
a season in which the Lone Peak High School varsity girls basketball squad
finished around .500 and graduated two seniors, first-year head coach Loren
Bough is set to lead a very young Lady Big Horns team into the 2019-2020 campaign.
LPHS does not have
any seniors on their roster. The Lady Big Horns will have to rely on the
experience of two juniors and a sophomore, who are accompanied by a platoon of
talented freshmen. Ivy Hicks, one of two juniors on the team, is looking
forward to seeing how the group will cohere as a unit. “It’s a little
intimidating going into the season, to be honest. But I think it’s going to be
fun because our whole team is going to get to grow,” she said.
The freshmen on the team are accustomed to winning. As 8th
graders, they won 27 consecutive games, going undefeated on the season, before
arriving on the high school scene. One of those freshmen is point guard Jessie
Bough. She described her excitement for the challenge that the next level of
play will bring: “I think we all know it is going to be a totally different
season and that obviously we will have to kind of restart. We can take what we
did last year, but we have to move it up a few levels. I think that’s what
we’re trying to do,” Bough said. “We’ve been talking a lot with the three older
girls that we have about what we can do to combine everything that we’ve
learned and put it together to use this year to improve. We don’t have any
seniors so we’re not going to lose anyone next year.”
Coach Bough has been impressed with his team’s energy so far
as they have been practicing twice daily, already completing more than the
minimal requirement of practices in preparation for their first game. “I think
you’ll see continual improvement. The leaders on the team will develop over the
course of the season. We don’t necessarily know who that will be in the first
couple games,” coach Bough said.
Defense has been, and will be, the focal point for Bough and
his team this year. “Our goals for the season mention only defense and
execution. We’re not going to be as much offensive-minded as we want to be the
best defensive team on the court every night,” Bough said.
There is a consistent theme shared
between both the boys and girls varsity basketball teams regarding what their
strengths would be this season: “Team chemistry and hard work are going to be
our big strengths,” coach Bough said. “We’ve got really good chemistry.” Hicks
and Bough echoed their coach’s words, citing team chemistry as essential to
their success this season.
“Our real end goal will be how we play at the end of the
season, not how we play at the start of the season,” said coach Bough. The
season begins Dec. 7 for the Lady Big Horns when they play host to the
Absarokee Huskies. “I’m pretty pumped. I think it’s going to be amazing. All
the girls, our chemistry is really good so far, so I’m pretty excited,” Hicks
said.
