Roles to change, lineup still unconfirmed

BY JOEY BASKERVILLE
joey.baskerville@gmail.com

Change has come for the Highland women's basketball team.

And no, it's not just that Jackie Barton is no longer there.

Some of the Cougar players themselves will have to change the way they played last year or during high school.

Freshman Courtney Shiffer has been asked to play more from the outside and play the 3 position this year. Shiffer played forward or center for throughout her high school career with the Freeport Pretzels.

"I'm asking her to jump to the 3 this year," Highland coach Dean Buckwalter said. "And she loves it. She absolutely loves it. But that means that she'll have to guard someone that's a little bit quicker.

"But she hasn't missed a beat. Oh, she's just a phenomenal athlete."

This shouldn't be that much of a surprise, considering how well she's moved in the paint with Freeport.

I belive Shiffer is too slinder to be an effective power forward at the JUCO level and since she wants to play at a D-I program, this is probably her best shot.

I haven't seen Shiffer take a bunch of outside shots while a Pretzel, that doesn't mean she can't shoot.

Only in warmups have I seen her shoot 3s and she's made some, so perhaps it just wasn't used because girls like Katie Norman, Kelsey Hoefer and Caitlin Greene were the girls to take those deep outside attempts.

We may finally find out just how underrated Shiffer really has been all this time.

As mentioned on the Journal-Standard, Mallory Magee's role will change as well. Magee is now the team's most versitile play with Jackie Barton now at Western Illinois University.

"We're going to ask her to do a lot of scoring," Buckwalter said. "I think with her and Suporia (Dickens), it's going to open everybody else up."

In all likelihood, Dickens will be asked to do what she does best: drive to the basket.
"Suporia, we went to a jamboree and she looks pretty much unstopable," Buckwalter said. "She gets tired fast, but going to the basket, she hasn't been stopped yet.
"I'm putting in offensive plays just for her."

And now ... your starting lineup ... sort of

When I asked Buckwalter what his starting lineup would be -- something I've been pondering since all the recruits were signed -- he wasn't too sure, but had an idea.

"I don't have a clue Joey!" Buckwalter joked. "I've been racking my brain for the last three days. I've got 10 great players and two were out for volleyball and one fits in perfect.
"I'm probably going to go with Lexi (Alexia Tann), Suporia, Mallory, Renee and Shiff. That's my best defensive team, I think. That's probably the way I'm going against Malcolm X (on Friday)."

I was, admittedly surprised that Deuth would get the nod over new center Ashanti Walker, but Buckwalter said that she's "coming on" to coming back around.

The listed 6-foot-1 forward could still need more work to fit into the offense, play on the defensive end and make this team lethal in this region.

"Ashanti Walker is coming on. She's coming off that blown out knee a couple of years ago," Buckwalter said. "And it's taking her a while to come around. But, she's starting to get her confidence back.

"You could tell she hadn't been on the court in a while, so I think the more she plays, she'll get any better. She's great athlete with a nice shot.

"She's kind of a leader in her own way."

Buckwalter still left the door open for if things change.

"That (the lineup) could change," Buckwalter said. "Ashanti's right there. Taylor (Gallentine's) right there. And Nicole (Olson's) right there. I could start all three at any time.

"If teams are playing zone, I won't have a problem starting Nicole in there at all. We'll see how it goes."

Just how good is the 2009 Freeport VB team?

Photo by Dave Manley
Freeport's Lindsay Ellinor reaches for a tip shot against Harlem's Katie Gray during the game in Freeport on Tuesday.

This year's Freeport volleyball team is a mystery to me.

I'm not sure how good this team really is, but fact is: the Pretzels are a match away from winning the program's first-ever sectional title.

Just like the 2008 team.

"People expected us not to do (well) and this feels so good," Courtney Lawson said Tuesday night. "It's just phenomenal.

Laura Witt added: "Everyone didn't think we'd make it this far. They ranked us low in conference but we came up and we got second in conference."

"We're back to where we were last year, and that just makes us want to push more," Lawson followed.

The Pretzels just a year ago was the best team I've seen. Better than Eastland (before it went downstate), better than Dakota (a team that nearly went downstate, had it not been for Eastland) and better than any NIC-10 team school.

The tandem of hitters Kelsey Hoefer, Courtney Shiffer, Karli Davis and Katie Norman were nearly unstoppable.

Hoefer was the conference MVP, Shiffer was just a step below Hoefer, Davis was a leading hitter in 2007 and could still be effective despite a foot injury that has hampered her to this day and Norman made big plays in the conference title clincher — the first of the program's in 31 years (1977).

And let's not forget about Caitlin Greene, who's probably the best libero in the NIC-10.

People say this a lot about her, but she's everywhere. She continues to make digs that I don't see other back row players make.

At least not at this level.

That team, despite all its talented players and promise, finished just short of a sectional championship after losing to Burlington Central — the same school that beat the Freeport softball team in a super-sectional the previous spring.

Greene's now a senior, along with Laura Witt and Lindsay Ellinor. Witt and Ellinor aren't bad in the back row either and both have some pretty good serves.

They've had to step up, sure.

But are they better and, hence, made the Pretzels better than a year ago?

No. Not in my view.

Hoefer is a better hitter than any current player. Courtney Lawson's solid, Witt has filled in nicely considering she's really out of position (more of a setter than hitter) and Paige Calow is still improving.

Calow and Shiffer don't compare currently. Former Freeport volleyball coach Rodney Pritchett once said "(t)here's not a better athlete in the conference this year than Shiffer" and I believed him.

Calow has a way to go to earn that distinction.

Hoefer and Witt are most comparable, considering both committed to Division I schools.

But Lawson does well enough to be compared to the hurt version of Davis. A healthy Davis is better though.

Defensively is where the two teams seem to parallel.

Greene has been the backbone of the defense for a while and I think this year people are starting to understand just how important she's been to the Pretzels since starting for them.

Witt has always been a starter, but her role has expanded this year and has excelled.

But bottom line: the Pretzels this year are not better, or as good as the 2008 team.

"I don't think anybody expected us to got out and tie for second (in the NIC-10)," Greene said Tuesday night. "And to get back to the sectional finals is just amazing."

The real focus should be that the Pretzels are doing as much about as much as the 2008 team.

And if the Pretzels win an upset against Sycamore, they'll be doing more with less.

Here's your 2009-10 Highland womens basketball team photo and schedule

Season begins Friday, Nov. 13 at home in the Ladies Tip-off Tournament, which features the Cougars, Malcolm X, South Suburban and Spoon River.

Here's the full roster.

Fri/Sat	Nov 13-14	Ladies Tip-Off Tournament (HCC, Malcolm X, South Suburban, Spoon River)	HOME	5/7:00 Noon/2
Thur	Nov 19	Elgin	Elgin, IL	5:00
Tue	Nov 24	College of Lake County	Freeport, IL	5:00
Fri/Sat	Nov 27-28	Marshalltown Tournament	Marshalltown, IA	TBA
Tue	Dec 1	Malcolm X	Chicago, IL	5:00
Thur	Dec 3	Rock Valley	Freeport, IL	5:00
Sat	Dec 5	Illinois Central	East Peoria, IL	2:00
Fri	Dec 11	Lincoln Trail Classic vs Olney	Robinson, IL	6:00
/Sat	Dec 12	Lincoln Trail Classic vs Lincoln Trail	Robinson, IL	1:00
Fri/Sat	Dec 18-19	South Suburban Tournament	South Holland, IL	TBA
Thur	Jan 7	Sauk Valley*	Dixon, IL	5:30
Sat	Jan 9	Kankakee	Kankakee	1:00
Thur	Jan 14	Carl Sandburg*	Freeport, IL	5:00
Tue	Jan 19	Illinois Valley*	Ogelsby, IL	5:30
Thur	Jan 21	Black Hawk*	Freeport, IL	5:00
Sat	Jan 23	Black Hawk East*	Freeport, IL	1:00
Tue	Jan 26	Kishwaukee*	Malta, IL	5:30
Sat	Jan 30	Kennedy-King	Chicago, IL	1:00
Tue	Feb 2	Sauk Valley*	Freeport, IL	5:00
Thur	Feb 4	Black Hawk East*	Kewanee, IL	5:30
Sat	Feb 6	Kankakee	Freeport, IL	1:00
Tue	Feb 9	Carl Sandburg*	Galesburg, IL	5:30
Thur	Feb 11	Illinois Valley*	Freeport, IL	5:00
Sat	Feb 13	Daley	Freeport, IL	1:00
Tue	Feb 16	Black Hawk*	Moline, IL	5:30
Thur	Feb 18	Kishwaukee*	Freeport, IL	5:00
Sat	Feb 20	Kennedy-King	Freeport, IL	1:00
Sat	Feb 27	Region IV First Round @ Highland College	Freeport, IL	TBA
Wed	Mar 3	Region IV Semi-Finals @ Highland College	Freeport, IL	TBA
Sat	Mar 6	Region IV Championship @ Highland College	Freeport, IL	TBA
Tue	Mar 9	District Play-Off	Region XIII	TBA
Tue-Sat	Mar 16-20	NJCAA National Tournament	Salina, KS	TBA

Here's the roster with inflated heights and number changes.

No	Name	Ht	Yr	Position	Hometown
10	Jackie Cahill	5'5	F	G	Stockton, IL
12	Nicole Olson	5'9	S	G	Shannon, IL
15	Courtney DeHaven	5'6	F	G	Orangeville, IL
24	Alexia Tann	5'8	S	G	Beloit, WI
30	Suporia Dickens	5'10	F	G	Freeport, IL
31	Courtney Shiffer	6'0	F	F	Freeport, IL
33	Ashanti Walker	6'1	F	F	Chicago, IL
34	Mallory Magee	6'0	S	F	Stockton, IL
40	Taylor Gallentine	6'0	F	F	Prophestown, IL
42	Renee Deuth	5'10	S	F	Polo, IL