Building year: Lady Trojans look to progress with return of multiple players

Published 12:33 am Sunday, December 17, 2017

For the past few years, Ferriday High School basketball coach Lisa Abron has been rebuilding her team.

This year, Abron has all the pieces.

“I can’t say I have a new team anymore because the nucleus of my team is still here,” she said. “Every year I say we are rebuilding and that’s not the case now. We only had one senior that graduated and we have everyone back. Everybody should be on point this year.”

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The main goal for the Lady Trojans (8-3) this season, Abron said, is to outdo themselves instead of worrying about other teams.

“We made it to the second round of playoffs and came in second in district last year,” she said. “We did fairly well, and we are aiming to do even better this year.”

The Lady Trojans are on track after winning two of three games at its home tournament this past weekend, including an 82-41 victory over Marksville Saturday.

Five players ended with double digits in the win, led by senior guard Anasia Turner with 22 points.

Turner leads a squad of four seniors this season, backed by an influx of young talent.

Sophomore center Pacha Poole stands tall, ready for whatever comes her way under the basket.

“With rebounding she is phenomenal,” Abron said. “She is always there. She has been coming along pretty fair.”

Poole’s sidekick will be senior power forward Zhane Green, who is also on the upswing, Abron said.

“Last year she didn’t average in double figures, so that’s her goal,” she said.

The biggest obstacle to keep the early momentum is staying healthy, Abron said.

“We have been cursed with a lot of injuries already, and it’s been a day-to-day struggle for us,” she said. “We have been having to play really hard to win some ball games and rely on some inexperienced people to come in and pick up where someone who is injured left off.

“That has never happened to me so I was very worried about how fast they would recover.”

Despite the prompt scare, Abron said it’s all a part of the process.

“Instead of rebuilding, let’s just build,” she said. “We want to go farther than second round. We have a really good chance at doing some great things.”

Ferriday is scheduled to host its first district game of the season Tuesday against Mangham at the high school.