The Worth County girls are battling a rash of injuries as Kaitlyn Davidson (concussion), Claire Andrews (strained meniscus), and two other players are out with injuries. New coach Bryce Shafar, originally of Corning, is working on communication and defense with his new charges. He takes the helm after assisting Chris Healy on the boys side last year. Two years ago, he was the assistant for Justin Pearl of King City, where he said he learned a lot of the plays that Worth County will now use.
Above all, Shafar said that he does not want his players to worry about the injury situation and to have confidence in themselves when they step out on the floor. He made his mark early as a motivator for the girls. “I want them to feel that they are the best team out there every time they step on the floor,” he said. He said that Jefferson won games just by intimidating other teams and that it was simply a matter of confidence no matter who the other team was.
One of the team’s strengths in practice this week appears to be the ability to pressure the ball and force turnovers. Areas in need of improvement include rebounding and communication. With Davidson out, the Tigers will need to rely on maintaining physical contact and boxing out if they are to avoid a slew of cheap putbacks. The Tigers were working on a full court press and a half court trap, where the emphasis is on stopping the ball. Shafar plans to switch back and forth depending on the situation. Their main halfcourt defense will be a 1-3-1, which requires a lot of communication by the back person in order to succeed, but which can can create a lot of pressure, which will play to the Tigers’ strengths.
Offensively, the Tigers will do a lot of ball screens, double screens, cutting, and crashing hard to the glass in order to get offensive boards. “They’re doing everything I ask them to,” said Shafar. “Our goal is to come together as a team and get better by Christmas. There is no reason why we should not win a lot more games this year.”
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