Lady Mariner basketball looks to turn the corner

• Struggling Lady M’s fight turnovers, low shooting percentages and confidence

By Sean Pearson
Homer Tribune

With their season more than half over, and very few wins under their belt, Lady Mariner Basketball Head Coach Deb Lowney isn’t really sure what to do next.
“We are just not playing good basketball right now and are struggling on both ends of the court,” she explained. “Offensively, we feel the defensive pressure and have a hard time moving and taking care of the ball. Our offensive game is just very crude.”
The Lady M’s continued to show their struggles on the court with a 27-33 loss to Grace Christian on Friday at home, followed by a 19-35 drubbing by the Skyview Lady Panthers on Saturday.
Lowney knew early on that the season would be tough. Working with a young group, she found a lot of skills that players have not refined individually, exacerbating problems as a team.
“It is becoming very apparent that we must become stronger individual players if we want to compete,” Lowney explained. “The potential is there. We have had some outstanding performances by individuals this year. The consistency of performance, however, is not there.”
The Lady M’s have found a fair amount of frustration at the hoop, as even high-percentage shots often seem to fall short or precariously bounce off the rim.
“Interestingly enough, as much as we struggle on the offensive end, we do get good shots,” Lowney said. “A shooting percentage of 14 percent from the field, and just slightly better from the free-throw line, however, is just not going to get the job done.”
Lowney said she feels her Lady M’s are working very hard on the defensive end, adding that the team’s understanding of the defense is improving with every game.
“We are getting a lot of defensive touches on the ball. If we could rely on our full-court and half-court defense to keep us in the games, I think we would be OK,” she said. “Our turnovers are just creating too many fast-break opportunities for our opponents. We need to take care of the ball.”
Lowney said the team will continue to emphasize developing their offensive potential as individuals and as a team in practices, as they head down the home stretch toward postseason play.
“I believe these kids are tired of being run over by their opponents, but until we actually start completing our passes and draining our shots, that is just not going to change,” she said. “My goal right now is to keep these kids positive about themselves and their development as we struggle through this process. It is a very difficult balance. Good individual performances always help. Combination plays among teammates builds team and individual confidence. A win in the near future would be great.”
The Lady Mariners host Soldotna on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Alice Witte Gymnasium, and then face Wasilla at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Grace 33, Homer 27

Grace 7 4 10 12 33
Homer 4 5 11 7 27
Homer: Ketelle 8, Edens 2, Needham 6, Stafford 2, Wood 2, Hutt 7.
Grace: Dupea 6, Fredrickson 17, Burroughs 2, Birky 4, Wallace 4.

Skyview 35, Homer 19

Skyview 9 14 6 6 35
Homer 5 7 1 6 19
Homer: Ketelle 7, Needham 2, Cordova 2, Wood, 8.
Skyview: Jones 2, Penrod 12, Stewart 5, Cooper 2, Hill 8, Lamborn 6.

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Posted by Newsroom on Jan 27th, 2010 and filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.