By Chris Parker
Hermitage girls basketball will be a deeper and more experienced team this year, as the Lady Hornets try to improve on last year’s three-win campaign.
Seniors Chelsi Horn and Paris Yates will be team leaders. Horn earned second-team all-conference honors last season averaging 9.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Yates averaged 5.3 points and 1.4 steals per game. She is the team’s top defender.
Juniors Grace Newman and Meagan Nickerson give Hermitage two more upperclassmen to look to for leaderships. Newman, who played in 25 games last year averaging 1.4 points and 2.2 rebounds per game, is a strong shooter who can also get to the basket. Nickerson brings strong rebounding to the post.
Sophomores Izzy Sabala and Kaity Whiteside both saw significant varsity action as freshmen. Sabala averaged 5.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game as a freshman.
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A group of five freshmen will compete for varsity action including: Chloe Friedman, McKenna Kobe, Taylor Hohmann, Hailey Harris and Madison Harris.
That group will provide depth to go with the experience Hermitage has returning.
“We will have players that can come off the bench and give us some good minutes and allow our team to play faster than the last couple years,” Hermitage head coach Shane Salmon said. “We also have several girls that have gained experience the last two years and improved and now are ready to take the next step in becoming a good team.”
Hermitage will open the season on Nov. 19 at Montrose.
“We should be much more competitive each game and look to challenge some of the better teams in our conference,” Salmon said.
