MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Losing six seniors, including a first- team all-state point guard, will have a major effect on any team, but that doesn’t mean Trinity girls’ basketball coach Mike Baldy is going to handle this season any different.
Gone is Reagan Sharp, who started the last four seasons for the Warriors and is now playing at Davis & Elkins, as well as four other starters who helped Trinity get to the state semifinals last season.
The Warriors open their season tonight at Victory Baptist, followed by their home-opener Wednesday against Imani Christian (Pa.). Despite limited experience, the goals this season haven’t changed from years past. Getting to Charleston is the top priority, and Baldy thinks that can be a reality if his team buys in.
Until then, he’s not really sure what he’s going to get.
“I have no idea what to expect — it’s up to the girls to do those fundamental things,” Baldy said. “I think this team can be very successful when they do the little things, but we have a long way to go, though.”
Nine players fill out the Trinity roster, this time with no seniors. Replacing Sharp at point guard will be junior Katie White, and while Sharp played a vast majority of the minutes the last two seasons, Baldy doesn’t consider this White finally getting her turn.
“I don’t like to think of it as Katie being stuck behind Reagan,” Baldy said. “She battled Reagan every day in practice the last two years, and while she isn’t quite the offensive player Reagan was, Katie has a motor, she plays hard and plays really good defense.”
While White will have to fill in at point, a lot of the offensive production will be put on the shoulders of fellow junior Jaclyn Smith. The seniors last season were responsible for about 90% of the offensive stat sheet for the Warriors, and with Smith’s experience compared to her teammates, she is next in line.
“Jaclyn is probably the player who has played the most minutes to load up the stat categories — points, rebounds, assists,” Baldy said. “We’ll have to find ways to get rebounds and assists. We’re gonna have to score to win and it could be tough.”
Sophomore Maggie Mercure will likely be next in line to be the Warriors’ top scorer.
Sharp and Rachel Rosen led the team in rebounds last season, but both are gone. Rosen stood over 6 feet tall, and there is not a lot of height on this year’s team. Baldy said assistant Mike Nunan, who is responsible for rebounding, wants everyone to do the dirty work on the boards — box out, get loose balls and get to the rim for offensive rebounds rather than immediately get back on defense.
“Jaclyn is going to have to rebound a lot,” Baldy said. “She is our strongest player and works out at Viking (Performance Training). She doesn’t look like that little freshman anymore. She’s gotten a lot bigger. Rebounding will be all hands on deck. Our biggest issue with rebounding is attacking the loose balls. We have to have the mentality that the ball is mine and that Rachel and Reagan aren’t here anymore. We can just think, ‘Oh, they’ll get it.’ ”
The Warriors did add Morgantown transfer Olivia Austin, who likely won’t play this week but should be ready by the Dec. 9 game against Notre Dame.
Overall, Baldy knows this team will be a work in progress, but playing to its strengths and doing the little things right could go a long way.
“We didn’t want to take any steps backward,” he said. “The product will look different, but the way we do things won’t change. Ultimately, the way we run the program won’t change. We will take a while to get everyone on the same page and it’s just gonna take time, and we have to be positive with the kids. We still expect a lot of out them. I broke a clipboard in our scrimmage against Grafton because we didn’t get back on defense — stuff like that.
“This isn’t middle school or little league anymore. It’s one big court and we’re gonna realize that.”
