Rebuilding is never fun, especially when you are a coach as competitive as third-year Head Girls Basketball Coach Nina Gregory. Coach Gregory is used to winning, so when last year’s team went 2-14 in the shortened Covid season, she was just as frustrated as everyone else.
“Not making excuses, but we maybe played 3 games with our typical starting five. We had lots of covid related quarantines, no practices from Thanksgiving to Christmas and we were starting two or three freshmen, which is really hard to do in 6A,” Coach Gregory said.
And while the team has gotten slightly older, they are still really young, as all five starters are just Sophomores. Coach Gregory explains “Listen, we are young, and we are still learning, but we have a lot of potential. I am really proud that the kids go out there every day and have a great attitude no matter the circumstance. They play really hard, even if they are down a bit. They have a positive attitude, which is hard to keep when you are losing, and that’s why I am really happy with them, as a whole.”
Speaking of those Sophomores, the team has been led by Point Guard, Jasia Mololo, a quick and feisty Guard who is known for her distribution and leadership skills. “Unfortunately for us, Jasia got hurt a few games ago, and that has messed with the team a little. We could always count on her good attitude to be contagious and since these girls play summer ball together, it’s been an adjustment to not have their point guard out there,” said Coach Gregory.
Another player to watch for is post Kyra Chriss. When asked about Kyra, Coach Gregory says “Kyra is an undersized post that plays way bigger than her height. You can see the bigger players get frustrated when she outrebounds them just because of her effort and ball sense. She’s very strong for her size (around 5-6) and gives maximum effort every time she is on the floor.”
And if you notice a long, tall guard at the top of the 1-3-1 zone that the Pacers run on defense, that’s probably Mary Isbell, another Sophomore, who Coach Gregory describes as a “good shooter and all-around good player, with a good attitude that plays almost every minute for us.”
So while the wins may not come easy this year for the Pacers, Coach Gregory’s goal is for them to get better every day to build for the future. If these kids stick around, they might just be really tough in a year or two!
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