Dec. 3—Tahlequah girls basketball head coach David Qualls knew his team was going to need to mature quickly.
Without any returning starters or even a senior, the Lady Tigers were challenged to “grow up” before the season even opened. Even though it can seem daunting, the Lady Tigers have stepped up, according to Qualls. With time running out, Qualls was impressed that the Lady Tigers adapted as they did.
“[I’ve been most impressed with] how quickly we have grown up,” Qualls said. “When you don’t return many varsity players. The quicker they learn how hard they have to play and compete. Every possession is valuable — little things like how you screen or the timing of the play. We have shown growth to be successful and we have seen that the last few weeks.”
Coming into the season, the Lady Tigers know their starting five. Carsyn Gilbert will start as a forward but is expected to be moved all over the court to help as needed. Gilbert comes back with the most experience of any Lady Tigers this season.
“Gilbert will play everywhere this season,” Qualls said. “She’ll bring the ball down some. She’ll play the stretch four in the post.”
Junior Lauren Stephens is going to step up in the paint. Stephens also had a solid amount of time off the bench as a sophomore last year.
Junior Riley Dotson will move into the starting spot, giving the Lady Tigers good looks on both sides of the ball.
“She is a really good two-way player; she competes really well on defense. She has turned into a really good threat from 3three,” Qualls said.
Junior Mo Wilson and sophomore Laken Adams round out the starting lineup for the Lady Tigers. Adams comes in as the youngest point guard started by Qualls.
The Lady Tigers wrapped up their scrimmage season Wednesday, Nov. 27, at Muskogee. Facing off against a tough Lady Roughers program, Qualls saw growth from the first scrimmage of the season.
“We competed really well. I felt pretty good leaving that scrimmage,” Qualls said. “We started executing and doing the little things to be successful. The effort was really good we were pleased with how that scrimmage went. Muskogee is a good program; they are going to win some games this season.”
With a young team, the Lady Tigers are still working on finishing out games, according to Qualls.
“Really just finishing quarters and finishing the game is a big focus,” Qualls said. “We have been working on games and situations. When you are inexperienced like we are, those situations in practice to simulate the end of quarters are pretty valuable. We are trying to prep our team so they are ready for that.”
Before the season starts, the Lady Tigers got a small break. After the scrimmage, the team got the next three days off to be with their families for Thanksgiving. The team returned to the court Sunday, Dec. 1 for the first of two practices before opening day.
THS officially kicks off their season at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, against McAlester.
Follow live sports coverage @JakeSermershein on Twitter
