Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Richard Schenck Sports Editor
A new season brings unique challenges for coaches and players alike.
LCC Women’s Basket-ball Coach Ervin Brunson will be counting on his veteran players to carry the team early in the 2013-14 season.
“Last year we were much bigger than we are now,” said Brunson. “I had a little more experience with some of the players I had last year.”
The jump from high school basketball to college basketball will be a whole new experience for the in-coming freshmen. Brunson acknowledged that as the head coach he will need to be patient with his new players.
“The new group that I have, they’re exciting; they don’t realize this is a differ-ent level than high school,” said Brunson. “My job this year is to kind of slow-walk them into experience.”
Brunson’s new-look squad went up against the third-ranked women’s team in the nation in Divi-sion II, St. Clair County CC, on Nov. 2 at LCC. The Stars lost 72-46.
The Lady Stars’ lack of size was exploited and Brunson said it served as an early-season barometer.
“They gave us a good lesson,” Brunson said. “It was a wake-up call to let the girls know this is the kind of experience that you need to have to compete with the kind of teams we’ll be facing down the road.”
Sophomores Robyn Robinson and La Tonya Shade will be the two re-turning players Brunson said he is going to depend
on to pick up the slack un-til the team comes up to speed as a whole.
Robinson, a 2012-13 MC-CAA Western Conference honorable mention and part of the All-Academic Team, said she is answer-ing the call from Brunson.
“(My job is) just to lead the team,” Robinson said. “He always tells me the girls don’t have to like me, but they’re going to have to respect me.”
Despite the lack of proven players, Brunson expressed confidence the newcomers will improve
consistently throughout the season. He will also have the help of a 2012-13 MCCAA Western Confer-ence standout Shade.
“I’m just trying to show them the fundamentals; also to work as a team,” Shade said. “To build chemistry, because that is the most important thing.”
The Stars were ssched-uled to play at home against Wayne County Community College on Nov. 9.
Brunson and his new-look team will travel to Rochester College Nov. 13.
Nov.11 - 24 2013www.lcc.edu/lookout
SPORTS7
209 S. Washington Sq. • Lansing
Ph (517 )371-5205 • Fx (517 )[email protected] ■ Copying ■ Fax
Lamination ■ Posters, Greeting Cards ■ Small Gifts
Lady Stars follow leadership and experience
Men’s hoop eye fast start
LCC women’s basketball player Katie Santi (left) assists teammate La Tonya Shade after a foul during action Nov. 2 in the Gannon Gym.
Photo by Suzanna Powers
Photo by Suzanna Powers Nate Lafayette makes a lay-up during the LCC men’s basketball game against Central Michigan University on Oct. 29.
Matthew GellerFreelance Writer
Heading into his 24th season as LCC men’s bas-ketball head coach, Mike Ingram and his players have high expectations for the 2013-14 season.
Ingram is looking to add his 18th conference championship with a team he said can be as tal-ented as any he has had.
LCC sophomore and 2012-13 MCCAA Western Conference third-team all-league performer Devlin Bell, coupled with sophomore Cameron Sanchez, will be leading the way.
Sophomore Jeff Cain will be able to contribute his championship experi-ence, winning two state championships at J.W. Sexton High School.
With last season end-ing without a conference championship, the team is hungry and poised to leave their legacy at LCC.
The Stars got off to a 2-1 start to the season. Henry Ford Community Col-lege will visit the Gannon
Gym Wednesday Nov. 13, opening a three-game home stand ending with Mott CC on Nov 20.
Sanchez and Bell said they are used to play-ing in front of raucous crowds at the Field House at Eastern and East Lansing High, re-spectively.
Both said they are hop-ing the home faithful will come out and see for themselves all of the hard work they have put in.
After all of the running and drills the team has been through, the goal in everyone’s mind is to end up in Hutchinson Kansas for the NJCAA National Championships
“Our goals are very reachable this year,” In-gram said.
“The game is faster than when I played in high school, but in my mind it has slowed down,” San-chez said.
He explained that with the leadership and talent on this team, he fully ex-pects to play for a nation-al championship at the end of this season.
