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Lady Patriots hope to return to state tournament

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

The Sandy Creek varsity girls basketball team’s 2003-2004 season did not go as well as Coach Jim Waller had hoped. The team finished with a 17-13 record and made the first trip to the state tournament for a girl’s basketball team in school history but they opened with a loss to Hephzibah. The end came too early for Waller and his team, who wants his teams to be able to compete and win at that level.

Four players from last year’s squad return to the court for Waller and the Lady Patriots this year; captains Tracey Paschal, Morganne Campbell and Mary Fields and sophomore Lynsey Paschal. Sophomore Jenna Jackson also got a good amount of playing time for Sandy Creek last year, but Waller would be the first to tell you that this year’s team is not very deep. Sandy Creek’s fortunes this year will be determined greatly by the play of their freshmen, especially Courtney Lowery and Olympia Haney, who Waller estimates will get a good amount of playing time. They now must learn to play man to man defense better and the team as a whole must work on understanding their assignments and taking care of the ball.

The Lady Patriots have a tough first part of their schedule. They will play in both the Bulldog Classic and the Sweet South Classic tournament against some of the top basketball teams in the state. Waller knows these will be tough tournaments and hopes that these games will be a way for the team to get better and ready for the sub-region schedule which begins in January. As for sub-region opponents, Waller expects that both Woodward Academy and Creekside will be formidable foes. He also believes that Haralson County may be the best team in the region.

Sandy Creek opened the season last night at Luella.