By Shelley Ebbrecht
After finishing with an even 13-13 record last season, the Fair Play Lady Hornets are poised to tip that number in their favor this year with their strong inside game.
“We will have a strong inside game that will help us in rebounding and scoring,” said second-year head coach Alicia Mercer. “We will be an in-shape team and that will help us fight through the entire game. I feel like we can be scrappy and surprise some teams.”
Serving as strong inside anchors for the team will be seniors Maysee and Paige Harman who Mercer said she expects to be the team’s top leaders this season.
“Maysee and Paige Harman are our twins who play inside for us,” she said. “They are seniors this year, but they lead our team in both points and rebounds.”
The Lady Hornets will feel the void left by graduated seniors from last year’s squad—Anna Reaves and Miranda Lightfoot.
“Anna Reaves was our point guard and Miranda Lightfoot was our aggressive defensive player,” Mercer said. “Each one of these girls leaves a large spot open and big shoes to fill.”
With the season being so young and practices just getting underway, Mercer said it is too soon to tell which of the team’s newcomers will be major contributors on the court this year. Over the off season, the Lady Hornets focused on getting back to the basics of basketball.
“We participated in some shoot outs this summer and had an individual camp at our school to help improve basic fundamentals,” said Mercer.
New this year, the team makes the jump from Class 1 to Class 2 and will face new competition when it comes time for the District Tournament. Mercer said she is looking forward to seeing how her team stacks up against the field of larger schools but is confident Fair Play will continue to play well in their Polk County League conference matchups.
“We played teams in our PCL conference well, so I know that we are looking to have a decent conference record,” Mercer said. “We are moving up to Class 2, so our districts will be new. I look forward to seeing how we do.”
The Lady Hornets open their season with their own Fair Play Girls Tournament November 23-25. They will play in the Hermitage Girls Tournament beginning December 7. The team’s regular season home opener is set for December 17 in their first conference matchup against Halfway.
Mercer said she expects her team to be competitive and simply play to the best of their abilities.
“There are going to be teams that are just better than we are, but I know that there are teams we should beat,” she said. “I want the girls to work hard and play with passion. I think if they do this, they will surprise themselves and others.”
