By Chris Parker
Diamond girls basketball will be looking to bounce back from a one-win season last year.
Grace Irwin enters her fourth year as a starter. She will also be the lone senior on the team.
“She is a good encourager and leads first by example,” Diamond head coach Marty Atnip said. “Grace has been through the fire here and is ready to lead this team using her experience to lead the Lady Wildcats into a successful season.”
Sophomore Ashlyn Daniel has shown improvement on both the offensive and defensive ends since last year. Madison Bentley is a junior post player who does a great job on defense and cleaning the glass. Lexi Bridges is another junior post who runs the floor well and is a key piece of the defense. Allie Golian started last year at guard and brings intensity to the game. Makayah Culbertson is a 5’8 sophomore who came off the bench last year.
Atnip has a group of four freshmen that will make an immediate impact after going undefeated in junior high.
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“Grace Frazier is a point guard who makes everyone better around her and knows how to score and get others involved in the offense. Taaron Drake is another freshman guard who can score both of the dribble-drive, but has unlimited range from beyond the arc,” Atnip said. “Makaylynn Lafferty is a 6’0 post who is a rim protector and can hit that mid-range jumper which makes her a hard person to guard. Caitlin Suhrie is a player who does everything well and keeps improving by the day and will help out at the guard spot.”
Raele Smith is a 5’8 junior transfer from Nevada who sat out last year, but played for Nevada as a freshman. She will provide quality depth in the post. Emilee Shallenberger is another sophomore guard who played in junior high but sat out last year.
“We will be a high intensity, hard-nosed exciting team who will have good depth at both the guard and post position,” Atnip said. “We fully expect to win a lot of games and be very competitive in every game we play this year. We feel if we stay healthy we can compete and win 15 games this year.”
Diamond opens the season on Nov. 23 at Greenwood.
“This team is the most talented team I have had from top to bottom since I have been at Diamond now going on my fourth year,” Atnip said. “It’s my belief that this program is about to take a big leap in being a top program in Class 2.”
