Lady Indians looking to move on
by Jamie Harris
How do you replace point guard Deidre Burch who finished her career with 1,646 points and was a four time all-state player (junior and senior year was first team, freshman and sophomore was second team) and the key cog in your offense and defense during her four year career at Berkeley Springs?
That is the question facing longtime veteran Berkeley Springs Lady Indians basketball Coach Dale McCumbee. McCumbee. He feels he may have found an answer that he did not expect.
Junior Sarah Haynes returns back to the court this year after opting to sit out her sophomore season.
Haynes was selected as a second Team All State Guard during her freshman year averaging 18.1 points per game, scored 382 points, grabbed 75 rebounds, blocked 61 shots and dished out 61 assists.
Pairing Haynes up with senior returners Casey Solomon who was an all PVC conference, who average 12.1 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, and 1.4 steals a game and Lauren Schetrompf who averaged eight points a game along with three rebounds a game as well gives the Lady Indians a very respectable scoring trio.
Seniors Cassandra Burch (senior) and Caitlyn Napfel will give the Lady Indians a strong force in the paint.
Coach McCumbee feels the strength of his team this season is based around his four senior letterman who all have varsity experience.
With the return of Haynes, who along with Solomon anchor the front court and back court for the Lady Indians. A weakness is the lack of depth. Berkeley Springs does not have a lot of guard substitutes and McCumbee feels that the younger players will need to step up in the post and forward areas to help the team.
The outlook for the upcoming season is the Lady Indians will rely on a lot of Ironman basketball. The team will need to be in tip top shape and play smart intelligent basketball.
McCumbee feels that the Lady Indians will not be able to waste fouls. With Schetrompf, Solomon and Haynes the team still wants to be a transition team.
He is hoping that his seniors and younger players will continue to push each other to get better every day. As a team we need to continue to develop our team chemistry and cohesiveness. Our scrimmage with Clear Spring, Md. the other day showed some positive signs in those areas.
The Lady Indians opened their 2012-13 season on November 27 at home vs. Moorefield. The Junior Varsity game tipped off at 6 p.m., and the new look Lady Indians varsity squad hit the floor at 7:30 p.m. Then on November 30 and December 1, the Lady Indians will host the Tip Off Classic that features Berkeley Springs, St. Maria Goretti, Jefferson and a fourth team to be determined.
Coach McCumbee is assisted by Mike Webster.
