Lady Green Wave basketball works to find strong starting lineup

Published 12:21 am Tuesday, November 28, 2017

After losing four of five starters to graduation, the Cathedral High School Lady Green Wave has yet to find just the right combination for this year’s squad.

Though its players have done some shuffling around already this year, Cathedral coach Peter Arnold said he isn’t fretting the situation.

“They are big shoes to fill, but we aren’t trying to fill them. We are just trying to put our team together,” he said. “We are still sorting out who can play what role and what combinations of people work. That’s the biggest challenge.”

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The Lady Wave (3-2) has just two players with significant playing time returning from last year’s team — senior Caroline Kaiser and junior Baylee Graning.

Arnold said with experience, comes great responsibility for the guard duo.

“They both know they have a heavy weight to carry,” he said. “Not only in scoring, but they have to guard the best players without getting in foul trouble. There is a big burden, but I’ve talked to them several times about it and they know they just have to go out there and play.”

Backing up the two, however, are three additional seniors in Lessley Dooley, Mary Evans Kelley and Sema’j Hickombottom.

“They have been waiting for their turn to play,” Arnold said. “They are getting their chance Whether you have a lot of game experience or not, you just have more confidence as a senior and I like that I have that coming off the bench.”

Despite a young bunch, Arnold said Cathedral does have strength in other areas, including its ability to adapt.

“It doesn’t take long to see what the strengths are,” he said. “We are still experimenting and will continue to do so. The last few years it has been clear who the best girls were. We have a lot of girls this year who are fairly even.”

Arnold also added though Cathedral does not have a lot of size this year, he has a plan to make it work.

“We have some speed, but when we go really fast we are small,” he said. “You have to rebound the ball, but height is not the determining factor. We are going to play good defense and relatively hard defense. We are working on getting better at positioning.”

Cathedral continues its season tonight when it travels to St. Aloyisus.