By Chris Parker
Buffalo girls basketball will look to establish new leaders this season after graduating 75% of the scoring from last season’s 11-15 team.
“Our identity needs to be the next girl up,” said Buffalo head coach Cory Hanger. “It doesn’t matter who is on the court. We are going to be a tough team that is going to play great defense and be a headache for opposing teams.”
Sadie Abercrombie, Marlee Andrews and Audrey Peterson will be the team’s leaders.
Hanger on Abercrombie: “Sadie is one those players that leads through her actions. She is always doing the right thing on and off the court. She is a player that our younger girls can look up to. Sadie will be one of our primary ball handlers and our best on ball defender. She does a great job of getting to the basket and we will look to her to be more of a scorer this year”
Hanger on Andrews: “Marlee is a great vocal leader. She is always communicating at practice, on the floor, and even when she is on the bench. Trying to make sure girls are where they need to be and helping set the team up for success. Marlee is one of those players that will not show up in the stat sheet very often, but she does a lot of the little things right everywhere else. She does a great job being a vocal leader on the court.”
Hanger on Peterson: “Audrey is an extremely hard worker. She is a kid you never have to worry about effort. She plays with a ton of intensity, and we will be looking to her to step up as a leader on the court this year. Audrey has great athleticism and is a player we can trust to guard just about anyone on the floor. She has started to become more confident as a scorer as well using her athleticism to get to the basket.”
CLICK HERE FOR LINKS TO ALL OF THE WINTER PREVIEWS
Senior center Raegan Carter also returns.
“Raegan has great size as she is 6’1,” Hanger said. “She does a great job in the post creating opportunities for herself and her teammates.”
The freshman quartet of Leah White, Broolyn Righter, Addy Armstrong and Emma Gugliotta will look to make immediate varsity impacts.
Hanger on White: “Leah will be a day one starter for us as a freshman. She has great size and athleticism. She can play all five spots on the floor and can score from anywhere.”
Hanger on Righter: “Brooklyn is a solid guard that has a lot of potential. She is athletic and can get to the basket. She has also progressed a lot on the defensive side and shown she can guard varsity players.”
Hanger on Armstrong: “Addy will be one of the most athletic players on the court every single night. She is a player that will be everywhere on the court creating havoc for other teams.”
Hanger on Gugliotta: “Emma is a solid forward who we will look to give us solid minutes off the bench. She can catch and shoot as well as shoot off the dribble.”
The defense will lead the team while the offense develops.
“Our biggest strength will be our defense. We have a lot of good athletes with size that can guard,” Hanger said. “a. We lost over 75% of our scoring from last year. To be competitive against better teams we will need girls to step up and become scoring threats. We are also very inexperienced right now with a lot of freshmen having to step up and play right away.”
Buffalo opens the season Nov. 28 through Dec. 2 at the Fair Grove Tournament.
