The Lady Hubs varsity basketball team relied on its senior class to play heavy minutes this past season, but with those players now departed from the program, head coach Tony Rowan said the development of his younger players this summer will be critical to the team’s success this coming season.
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ROCHELLE — The Lady Hubs varsity basketball team relied on its senior class to play heavy minutes this past season, but with those players now departed from the program, head coach Tony Rowan said the development of his younger players this summer will be critical to the team’s success this coming season.
Rochelle hosted its high school girls basketball summer camp earlier this month, with Rowan helping players ranging from rising seniors to incoming freshmen sharpen their skills to prepare for the winter. The Lady Hubs have been playing games in the Byron Summer League, and Rowan said the early emphasis has been improving the team’s shooting percentage.
“The high school camp was pretty good for us,” Rowan said. “The competitive nature of the girls, especially our eighth-graders who are going to be freshmen really stood out… Coach [Johnny] Gonzales did a really good job of getting them hungry for high school basketball. Every single girl is coachable and they want to learn.”
The Lady Hubs have recorded double-digit victories over each of the last two seasons (11 wins in 2016 and 12 wins in 2017). As the girls compete this summer, Rowan said they’ll be focusing in on honing basic skills and then transitioning to more strategic work as the season approaches.
“A lot of these girls don’t have varsity experience,” Rowan said. “Going through the summer, these kids are getting their first true varsity minutes… We’re really focusing on being able to handle the ball and shoot. We’re hoping that, throughout the summer, our varsity kids really work on their games.”
Rising senior Abby Lundquist will be counted on for continued scoring and leadership as the season approaches, and there will be several rising seniors battling for playing time including Mya Latta, Emilee Dueringer, Cheyene Watson, Makenna Ferrari and Kylee Muraira. Rowan said he’s been pleased with the development of Muraira, who didn’t play last season but could take on a big role with the Lady Hubs this coming winter.
“Abby’s continued to take step forward and she still has a lot of room to grow so I hope that we can keep building with her,” Rowan said. “Kylee’s been impressing us every single day. She’s stepped up in games over the summer and she’s been putting up the shots she needs to… She’s living and breathing basketball this summer.”
