By Chris Parker
Wheatland girls basketball has a new head coach in Jacob Morlan coming off a 20-win season.
Morlan has been the assistant coach of the Wheatland boys program since the 2020-21 season. He has previous experience coaching at Springfield Catholic, Crane and Seymour.
His wife, Alicia Morlan, will be his assistant coach,
“Already being a part of the Wheatland family and my wife already being the assistant coach (who could’ve taken over if she wanted), were major factors in taking the job,” Jacob Morlan said.
First-team all-conference selection Kiarah Blation returns for her senior season. She averaged 11.9 points per game to go with a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game.
“Having a consistent presence in the paint on both ends of the floor is a nice building block to start out with,” Morlan said. “Her rebounding ability and nose for the ball can really set her apart this year. She had some high rebounding number games last year that should become a regular occurrence this year.”
Junior Jaycee Dampier (guard), Charley Crouch (guard), Macy Pearson (guard/forward) and sophomore Kate Murphy (forward) return.
Dampier scored five points per game with 1.5 steals per game.
“Dampier will be a defensive catalyst for us and a natural floor leader,” Morlan said.
Crouch scored 5.8 points per game and was second on the team with 4 rebounds per game as a sophomore. She also had 2.3 steals per game.
“Charley will be asked to help give us an offensive punch from the perimeter,” Morlan said.
Pearson will look to expand her role after averaging 2 points per game.
“Macy will be asked to do a little of everything and play all over the floor,” Morlan said. “Her length will help give us versatility on both ends of the floor.”
Murphy scored 3.6 points per game to go with 3.4 rebounds per game as a freshman.
“Kate will be with Kiarah helping us win the battles in the paint on both ends of the floor,” Morlan said. “We are looking for Kate to make a leap from last year.”
Freshmen guards Mariah Box and Ally Sawyer will look to make immediate impacts.
“Mariah will get thrown into the fire as a point guard whenever she is on the floor this year. We will depend on her to get us organized and handle pressure from the get-go,” Morlan said. “Ally will be asked to come in and give us energy off the bench on both ends. Being scrappy and confident will earn her minutes right out of the gate.”
Wheatland will use its size and half-court defense to its advantage this season.
“Our size and half-court defense should be strengths of ours,” Morlan said. “Even though we won’t get out and press near as much as in the past, Coach Bryan always had them playing hard and aggressive defensively, which has made the transition to our half court man easier than I expected.”
Wheatland opens the regular season on Nov. 25 at Climax Springs.
“I would like to see us be competitive within our conference and district,” Morlan said. “I think this group has the potential to win tough games in February.”
