With five freshmen and three sophomores on his 10-player varsity roster, Danny Brown is preaching patience on expectations for his Columbus East girls basketball team.
The Olympians have only two seniors and no juniors returning from a team that went 10-13, including 2-5 in the Hoosier Hills Conference.
“We’re excited about this season,” Brown said. “We have five freshman and three sophomores in eight of the top 10 players. We could be the youngest team in the state. The key word there, and (assistant) coach (Willie) Humes and I have talked about it, is we have to be patient as far as the progression that these players make. It’s going to take a little while, but we have some players that are used to winning.”
That includes 5-foot-7 sophomore point guard Koryn Greiwe. Despite being double-teamed and having various defenses thrown at her last season, Greiwe averaged 19.0 points a game and was The Republic Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
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“Koryn just keeps getting better, and she makes everybody around her better,” Brown said. “We think she’s one of the better players in the state. Last year, they were able to key on her a lot. If they’re going to be on her this year, we have some other players who could step up and take some of the pressure off of her scoring-wise this year.”
Chief among them are senior guards Whitley Rankin and Katie Dougherty. The 5-4 Rankin is entering her fourth year as a starter, and the 5-7 Dougherty started last season.
Looking to fill the inside spots are a trio of freshmen — 6-4 Gabby Dean, 6-0 Leah Bachmann and 5-9 Emma Jenkins — along with 6-1 sophomore Kaitlyn Carothers.
“We have a lot better balance as far as what we’re looking for outside-inside,” Brown said. “Gabby Dean and Kaitlyn Carothers will give us a presence inside that we haven’t had in awhile.”
Albany Speer, a 5-5 sophomore, was a starter at the end of last season when Rankin was out with an injury. Also looking to provide depth are 5-6 freshman Brielle Stevens and 5-7 freshman Heidi Murphy.
East will look to improve on the defensive end after giving up 50 first-half points in last week’s scrimmage against Jennings County. The Panthers outscored the Olympians 79-65 overall.
“Defensively, we have to get better,” Brown said. “The scrimmage against Jennings County always shows you what you need to work on, and we have to do a better job of getting out on people, guarding people and getting back on defense.”
East opens the season Saturday at home against Floyd Central.
“We have a tough schedule, a young team and we’re only going to get better game by game,” Brown said. “We talk about getting better in practice every day, and I think you’re going to see the team progress throughout the season.”
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For the Columbus East girls basketball schedule, visit https://hoosierprepsports.com
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