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IMG_7404BY JEFF FALK

LEBANON – ‘There’s no place to go but up’.

‘They’ve got to get that first one’.

‘Before they can learn to run, they’ve first got to walk’.

The Lebanon girls’ basketball squad has heard all the trite expressions, and quite frankly the Cedars are tired of them. So much so they’ve come up with a new, fresher one on their own.

‘You can’t spell ‘W’ without ‘WE’.

IMG_7391Sure Lebanon High is coming off its first win-less season in the illustrious history of the program. And no, there are no guarantees for the upcoming campaign.

But the Cedars seem to know the importance of doing whatever they do together. They seem to understand that the only way to accomplish anything worthwhile is to do it as a singular unit.

“We haven’t set any team goals because we’re coming off a win-less season,” said Lebanon head coach Jamie Walborn. “But we’re not looking back, we’re looking forward. We’ve got new players and a new outlook. We want to win. We want to get in the win column.

“It’s a  clean slate,” continued Walborn. “We still talk about building, because we’re still new. It (last season) matters, but we just have to move forward. It’s going to be a different season for us.”

The 2016-17 campaign was certainly one to forget for the Cedars and Walborn, her first at the LHS helm. Decimated by personnel departures, Lebanon struggled with fundamentals, scoring points and confidence.

IMG_7234The Cedars lost every one of their 22 contests, some by wide margins.

“I think about it, because our record did not really reflect what we accomplished, at all,” said Walborn. “From the beginning to the end, we improved so much. We had kids not used to being go-to players. We were 0-22, but we had a lot of success in other ways. It’s funny when you look at the first video and the last.

“Now, for this year, we’re able to pick out certain areas where we want to improve,” Walborn added. “Last year was so much learning. Now we know things. We have seven freshmen, but a lot of them were on the travel team in the spring. We’ve definitely been able to get things accomplished in practice.”

The Cedars sport a solid foundation upon which to begin their rebuild. Lebanon’s top returners are junior Destiny Infante, senior Carly Sanders, junior Annabelle Deufel and junior post Mikayla Bowman.

“I think our intensity in practice has been very good,” said Walborn. “We’ve had girls step up and assume leadership roles. They’ve been keeping the other kids energized in practice. I have kids who I can see getting quality varsity minutes.

“Another strength is we have some speed,” Walborn continued. “We really do a good job of out-letting the ball and pushing it up the floor. Hopefully we can make up for our lack of size with speed. We have some returners, but we also have some new faces. They’re out there working hard.”

IMG_7280Another good sign for Lebanon is its turnout of 19 student-athletes. Seven of those are freshmen, some of whom boast athletic potential.

If nothing else, Lebanon should be much more competitive this winter.

“One weakness is definitely boxing out,” said Walborn. “And we need to play a little more physical on defense. I think sometimes we rely too much our speed. It can’t be steal, steal, steal. We haven’t played in a lot of close games. It’s just not familiar to them. We need to work on more situations.”

“We’re definitely looking for defense,” added Walborn. “We think we can pick up some easy baskets, some transition lay-ups by picking up (defensively) half-court. We’re still learning. It’s just a work in progress. But every basket will help with our confidence.”

IMG_7331For the Cedars, it will all begin with the Red Lion Tip-Off Tournament, Friday and Saturday, December 8th and 9th.

“I’m not pleased with a win-less season,” said Walborn. “But I’m pleased we’re going in the right direction. We had a lot of kids involved in the off-season. We’ve got a lot going on with the junior high program. We’re doing a lot. We’re getting our kids involved with the youth program.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_7397To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-18 Lebanon Girls’ Basketball Roster

No. Name Year Position
10 Azelyn Arenas Sr. G
14 Sophia Blouch Fr. F
25 Mikayla Bowman Jr. F
32 Victoria Bross Fr. F
1 Giahny Correa Fr. G
22 Zaelys Dearce Fr. G
24 Annabelle Duefel Jr. G
23 Stephanie Gass So. G
34 Maddie Gates So. F
33 Mackenzie Illyes Fr. G
3 Destiny Infante Jr. G
35 Allie Parr So. F
4 Carly Sanders Sr. G
40 Ja’ziah Savoy Fr. G
12 Olivia Sforza So. G
45 ShanAnn Simmons Fr. F
30 Avryl Torres-Gutierrez Fr. G
11 Chalee Wolfe Jr. F
15 Taileen Zechman Jr. F

 

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 2017-18 Lebanon Girls’ Basketball Schedule

Date Teams Score
12/08
7:30 pm
Lebanon
Red Lion
at Red Lion Tournament
Nonleague
12/09
TBD
Lebanon
TBD
at Red Lion Tournament
Nonleague
12/13
6:30 pm
Lebanon
at York Country Day
Nonleague
12/15
7:30 pm
Ephrata
at Lebanon
League
12/18
7:30 pm
Lebanon
at Lampeter-Strasburg
League
12/20
7:30 pm
Manheim Central
at Lebanon
League
12/22
7:30 pm
Lebanon
at Solanco
League
12/27
7:30 pm
Northern Lebanon
Lebanon
at Lebanon Tournament
Nonleague
12/28
TBD
TBD
Lebanon
at Lebanon Tournament
Nonleague
1/05
7:30 pm
Lebanon
at Garden Spot
League
1/08
7:30 pm
Cedar Crest
at Lebanon
Nonleague
1/09
7:30 pm
Cocalico
at Lebanon
League
1/12
7:30 pm
Lebanon
at Donegal
League
1/16
7:30 pm
Lebanon
at Ephrata
League
1/19
7:30 pm
Lampeter-Strasburg
at Lebanon
League
1/22
7:30 pm
Lebanon
at Milton Hershey
Nonleague
1/26
7:30 pm
Solanco
at Lebanon
League
1/27
2:30 pm
Hershey
at Lebanon
Nonleague
1/30
7:30 pm
Garden Spot
at Lebanon
League
2/02
7:30 pm
Lebanon
at Cocalico
League
2/06
7:30 pm
Donegal
at Lebanon
League

 

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