HOOPS: Gleason girls looking to claim district No. 1
For the past three years, the Gleason girls basketball team has been young as three years ago the starting lineup was full of freshmen and eighth-graders.
Now those girls are seniors and juniors, and this could be the year for the Lady Bulldogs to win another District 13-A title.
“We have had a lot of kids improve since the end of last season,” Gleason girls coach Sean Stephenson said. “They were not happy with with ending of last season. They felt it ended too soon.
“Our goal is to win the region semifinals and compete to go to state.”
Gleason has multiple girls that can go off on any night and be the go-to scorer like seniors Kelsey Borneman and Lillian Nichols along with junior Jayden Green.
“That makes us hard to guard,” Stephenson said. “You try to take one away, and someone else is there to do the job. Our key is that we need someone to step up and score when we are struggling. We can’t go three to four minutes without scoring. We have to play with confidence.”
No one on Gleason’s team is a true post player, so size can be an issue.
“Rebounding will be important as we are not very big,” Stephenson said. “When we play teams like Peabody, Dresden and Gibson County, that is one thing that hurt us. We got killed on the boards. Rebounding can make or break how far we go.”
Following the 2015-16 season, the Gleason boys were looking to also be more of a contender for the district title, but graduation and some players deciding not to play this year has changed that outlook.
“I was fully expecting this year to reach some of our goals,” Gleason boys coach Chris Leo said. “I had three seniors quit and one more move to a different school. So now the team is full of freshmen and eighth-graders. We have 14 on the roster and 10 are freshmen or eighth-graders.”
So Leo must work once again to try to rebuild the program.
Gleason does have one senior back, and he earned all-district last year. That player is Lucio Solano.
“He has told me more than I have told him that he needs to be more of a leader this year,” Leo said. “He is going to be more of a player coach. If we can be good within the next couple of years, it will be through his leadership this year.”
He does feel like there are other guys that can come in and contribute.
“Dawson Arnold and Peyton Stigall will be freshmen, and they will have growing pains,” Leo said. “Dawson got to play last year after his junior high season. We are just going to be undersized.
“Sophomore Hart McKenzie is back, and he and Lucio are the only two with high school experience.”
Leo is not going to dwell on wins and losses when looking at the success of this team.
“We have to play as a team, and we are going to work on fundamentals,” he said. “I want us to play hard, play fundamental basketball and play team ball.
“Lucio is going to be our primary ball handler, primary scorer and primary defender.”
Michael Odom, 425-9754
Gleason Bulldogs
Last year’s record/finish: 7-15 (4-10)/Tied 5th in District 13-A
2 key returners: Lucio Solano (Senior, guard); Hart McKenzie (Sophomore, guard)
2 key series: Big Sandy (Jan. 10 at home; Feb. 3 on road); Bruceton (Jan. 13 on road; Feb. 7 at home)
Gleason Lady Bulldogs
Last year’s record/finish: 22-12 (10-4)/3rd in District 13-A
2 key returners: Jayden Green (Junior, guard); Kelsey Borneman (Senior, guard)
2 key series: Dresden (Dec. 6 at home; Jan. 17 on road); Huntingdon (Dec. 9 at home; Jan. 20 on road)