Joe’s Take: GW will be back with a vengeance in 2022-23 season
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Prepare for GW trouble, Class AAAA. Actually, make it sextuple. Finley Lohan Finley Lohan 5'11" | SF George Washington | 2024 State WV , Macie Mallory Macie Mallory 5'9" | SG George Washington | 2024 WV , Alaira Evans Alaira…
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Continue ReadingPrepare for GW trouble, Class AAAA.
Actually, make it sextuple.
Finley Lohan Finley Lohan 5'11" | SF George Washington | 2024 State WV , Macie Mallory Macie Mallory 5'9" | SG George Washington | 2024 WV , Alaira Evans Alaira Evans 5'9" | SF Chapmanville | 2024 State WV , Nasiya Smith Nasiya Smith 5'10" | SF George Washington | 2025 State WV , Kierstyn Fore, and Kensy Thomas.
These six girls are on the verge of making life quite hard for the Mountain State Athletic Conference and beyond. Separate, they may be stoppable, but together, oh boy.
Show little concern to the recent 10-16 year where Huntington thumped the Patriots in the opening round of the state tournament. All of those hardships were an unavoidable part of the plan. The Patriots just lost four starters. “There was a tremendous amount of work put in by our returning players,” GW head coach Jamie LaMaster said. “Identifying and understanding everyone’s role. Once they did that, we went into the postseason and really started clicking.”
About the only thing missing was the huge signature-type win where you catch a glimpse of everything coming together at once. Yet no matter, overall, it largely was the kind of year a coach discovers what a young group is made of.
To put it simply, these girls are made of some tough stuff. The arsenal starts with the ability to bounce back from just about anything.
In their press conference after the loss to the Highlanders, the girls openly recognized the advances they made and what an achievement it was for them just to make it to the state tournament. They also already talked openly and excitedly about the 2022-23 season. That’s the kind of resilience a team needs when playing in the MSAC. Putting setbacks out of mind is paramount in the barrage of non-stop night-in and night-out action, which is the best league in the state.
But, that’s not the only great thing about them.
In a pleasant twist for LaMaster, they all complement each other, pretty well. Skill sets overlap, hearts are in the right place, and everyone genuinely likes each other. “Preparation-wise, we won’t change a lot of things. We just have to go a little deeper and clean things up. We won’t spend much time on the basics, just the details,” LaMaster said.
Are there any negatives?
Not really.
Yes, Mallory missed the entire season recovering from an ACL tear. And usually, that’s the kind of setback hampering such a push like the one the Patriots are looking to make. However, to hear Mallory’s dad put it and watch workout videos of his daughter, she’s well ahead of schedule in lifting and form shooting. She’s doing everything correctly in her efforts to get back on the floor. When it comes time to integrate into her role as a big-time shooter on the team, it will be seamless.
If someone really wanted to get picky, they could point out the lack of a true big or point guard. Even then, that argument brings minor worries. Lohan handled the point role well and with Mallory’s addition, Lohan won’t need to shoot as more and could focus more on the point guard role.
In regards to the rebounding, the insane amount of quality shooting on the team should be enough to quell those flames.
Other than those qualms, there’s not a lot of concern. Now, it’s all about sitting back and preparing to enjoy the show.