By TYLER HENRY
Little Apple Post contributor
As the regular season winds to a close, the Wabaunsee girl’s basketball team will return to the hardwood on Tuesday with a road trip to take on 6th-ranked Mission Valley.
The Lady Chargers will come into this contest at 3-11 looking to snap a three-game skid while the Lady Vikings enter at 13-2 having split their last two games.
To pull an upset over a ranked opponent, Wabaunsee will need to play very fundamentally sound, take care of the basketball, and find ways to win difficult battles on the boards.
“I want to see us continue to improve rebounding the basketball and reduce the number of turnovers we have,” Lady Charger head coach Trevor Keller said. “Offensively we will need to attack their zone and not settle. On defense, we need to do a good job of contesting three-point shots and rebounding to limit them to one chance per possession.”
Mission Valley has turned several of its games into track meets this year, and has a propensity for wreaking havoc in transition after forcing opponents to make mistakes.
“They do a good job of getting deflections and steals out of the 1-3-1 zone that lead to transition opportunities so we have to take care of the basketball,” Keller said. “We also need to do a good job keeping the person with the ball in front of us so that we are not having to rotate as much in order to limit open three-point shots.”
Defensively, Wabaunsee will have to find an answer for the dynamic duo of senior Paige Martin and sophomore Adaline Bloomfield, who combine to average 25 points per game.
The Lady Chargers will also need to be on the ball offensively against a Mission Valley defense holding opponents to just 32 points per game this season.
“We have to attack the zone on offense by having the ball touch multiple sides of the floor every possession,” Keller said. “Defensively we have to be assignment-sound with great on-ball defense, contest every shot, and rebound well.”
Tip-off between the Lady Chargers and Vikings is set for 6:00 pm at Mission Valley High School, with the boy’s game to follow at 7:30.
For continuing coverage of Charger athletics throughout the home stretch of the season, stay tuned to the Little Apple Post.