CURWENSVILLE – The Curwensville Lady Tide girls basketball squad will enter the 2017-18 season with its fourth different head coach in the last four years.
Bob Desmett is now the person in charge of the Lady Tide basketball program and it will be a challenge for Desmett, as it is his first coaching job on any level.
Recently Desmett, who took over for Jocelyn Bash, commented on this challenge, saying, “It is challenging, but in a good way. We hope to utilize a team-first approach that emphasizes performance and discipline in all facets of the game. The process of changing culture and building unity are difficult, but I am looking long term. I am in this to build a program, not just one team, not just one year. For me it is bigger than one season. We have a lot of talented underclassmen. If we focus our combined effort toward our goals, on top of having a good season, we could begin to develop a good program.”
Curwensville is coming off a 10-13 year in 2016-17, a season that the Lady Tide advanced to the District 9 “AA” playoffs which ended in a quarterfinal loss to Port Allegheny, 60-46.
Gone from last season through graduation are Hannah Dixon, Christine Limbert and Nikki Wormuth.
Dixon leaves having scored 1,056 points in her career, while Limbert set rebounding records for Curwensville.
The Tide have five letter winners back in seniors Madison McCracken, Madison Olson and Mikayla Warren. The two other letter winners are Madison Weber, a junior, and sophomore Tarah Jacobson.
As of now the Lady Tide starters include Weber, Sabrina Spencer, Olson and Warren.
Others in the running for a starting position are Kaitlyn McCracken, Jacobson and Hannah Condon.
In response to how the girls have bought into another coaching staff, Desmett commented, “They have accepted my staff and I quickly. I can’t say enough about how welcoming they have been. We have an exceptional group of students. They are dedicated to performance in the classroom and on the court.”
As far as goals for this years team, Desmett said, “Our expectations are simple. We want the kids to learn the discipline and leadership skills they will need to be good citizens. But in regards to our sport, we inherited a playoff team. Our aim is to continue that level of distinction. We see ourselves as a strong competitor in the Mo Valley League and would like to be in competition for the league championship. We as coaches need to develop our talent and mold their effort in a synchronous unit. As we move through the season, my coaching staff expects continuous improvement from our players. We want to develop skills at the individual level and at the team level.”
Assisting Desmett in his first season will be assistant coach Savannah Strickland and volunteers James Hoyt Jr., Heather Olson and Ciara Strickland.
The Lady Tide, defending Moshannon Valley League co-champions, open its season at West Branch on Friday with junior varsity tipping off at 6 pm
ROSTER:
SENIORS: *Madison McCracken, *Madison Olson, Sabrina Spencer, *Mikayla Warren
JUNIORS: Keisha Maines, Kaitlyn McCracken, Olivia Sylvester, Brittany Wagner, * Madison Weber
SOPHOMORES: Hannah Condon, *Tarah Jacobson, Briana Swindell, Morgan Warrick, Jordan Witherite
FRESHMEN: Emma Rebar
* Denotes returning letter winner
SCHEDULE:
DECEMBER: 8 at West Branch, *12 MOSHANNON VALLEY, *19 HARMONY (VARSITY ONLY – 6:30 PM), *21 at St. Mary’s, *28 CLEARFIELD
JANUARY: 3 RIDGWAY, 5 at Brockway, 9 at Dubois Central Catholic, *10 WEST BRANCH,
*16 ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC, 17 at Glendale, 19 at Kane, 22 at Brookville,
*23 at Ridgway, 26 BROCKWAY. 30 at Moshannon Valley, 31 GLENDALE
FEBRUARY: 2 at Johnsonburg, *5 at Harmony (VARSITY ONLY – 6:30 PM), *6 DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC, 9 SHEFFIELD, *13 at Clearfield
NOTE: HOME GAMES IN CAPS. Junior Varsity games start at 6 pm unless otherwise noted.
* Games broadcast on WOKW-FM, 102.9, with the pre-game show starting at approximately 7:20 pm.
