In 2011-12, the Springfield Catholic Lady Irish basketball team beat Fair Grove to claim the Class 3, District 11 championship. But for each of the four years since then, Catholic has been ousted in the district semifinal round.
Last year’s campaign was highlighted by the emergence of star freshman Madison Chittenden. She led the team in nearly every statistical category (14.2 PPG, 40% FG, 6.8 RPB, 2.1 APG, 2.6 SPG and 1.9 BPG) and enters her sophomore season with high expectations.
“Madison is like a Ben Zobrist,” said head coach Dan Stander. “She can play any position that she is put in and can come through in the clutch when her team needs that knockout punch. With another year of experience under her belt, I can only imagine the stats she will put up on the board this year. She is a very competitive young lady and doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘can’t.’ I expect her to become one of the main leaders of this young team and lead by example. “
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On a team with no senior players, Chittenden and her fellow returning underclassmen will be asked to lead the team with their experience from last season.
Look for junior Emma Lucas to provide leadership as the returning starting point guard. Lucas was second in assists (1.9 per game) and steals (2.1 per game) behind Chittenden last season.
“Emma was our starting point guard last year and did a great job orchestrating our offense as well as guarding our opponent’s best player each night,” Stander said. “She will be our team captain as the only junior.”
Jaycee Cabasi (10.3 PPG, 1.4 RPG), Lindsey Murphy (2.3 PPG, 1.1 RPG) and Olivia Wilson (3.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG) join Chittenden as returning sophomores. They will all take on increased roles with valuable experience under their belt.
Sophomore guard Lily Edwards suffered a knee injury last season, but has made a complete recovery and should be ready to contribute right away this season.
“We are a young team with no seniors and only five returning players and the addition of an injured player returning to us,” said Stander. “All five returning players had started at some point during the season last year which will give us added experience. We will also add an additional six freshmen and one junior to help round out the team.”
Catholic started out slowly last season, but righted the ship towards the end of the season. They’re eager to make another appearance in the district championship game, and they have the players and experience to do so in 2016-17.
“Starting the season last year 1-10 and then turning the season around and finishing on an 8-7 run, we hope to use that momentum and pick up where we left off at the end of the year,” Stander said. “With a year of varsity experience under our belts, the confidence level is up and the excitement level is there to get a great start to this season. We will be very competitive and stack up well against our opponents.”
