BY 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’.
Sure 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.
The 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.”
Another 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.”
For 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.”
To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.
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 |
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 |