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2020-21 Bradford Girls’ Basketball Preview Powered by Potter County Family Campground

Hannah Lary, Sr., Guard. Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick's work here

Bradford Lady Owls

Head coach: Bob Hannon

2019-20 Record: 10-13

Playoffs: Lost to St. Marys, 55-36, in the District 9 Class 4A semifinals

Top returning players: Hannah Lary (Sr., G, 18.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 spg, 3.0 apg, 66 3-pointers, 971 career points, Preseason All-District 9; 2nd team All-District 9 as a junior, Three-year starter who will be out leader and will be counted on for being our overall leader), Alanna Benson (So., G, 7.2 ppg, 31 3-pointers, Will be expected to pick up more of the scoring load this year to help Hannah out; Has shown that the big moments don’t bother her. A streaky shooter who played big in wins over Coudersport nd St. Marys last year. We will need Alanna to be more consistent this year to complement Hannah in the backcourt), Leatrice Kakolewski (Sr., F, 1.0 ppg, Will be counted on to give us good work inside to increase her scoring and rebounding from last year. Lea transferred into Bradford last year so it was her first year as a Lady Owl. I feel that she will be more comfortable this year and have a good year for us), Sierra Taylor (So., F, 3.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, Sierra will be expected to at least double those numbers this year. Last year she got a taste of varsity action and has worked hard to adjust to the physicality of the game).

                                      

Top players lost: Erica Marshall (11.0 ppg)

Key newcomers: Rylee Close (Jr., G, Played in 18 games last year with 14 points; Will be expected to give us good minutes at the guard-forward position. Rylee is a good athlete that will be asked to handle the ball, play good defense and score when the opportunity arises), Ryley Cleveland (Jr., F, Played in nine games last season with seven points; Will have to give us good minutes of defense and rebounding and score when given the chance to help us), Carli Persichini (So, G; A guard that has good range and can help us off the bench), Jess Kerr (Jr., F), Emma Tyger (So. F), Abbi Schleicher (So, G), Madi Cowburn (So, G, Madi is a very athletic – Big 30 All-Star in soccer – who is out for basketball for the first time. I think she will help us a lot as she gets acclimated to basketball. Can run the floor, has good anticipation on defense and can do a little bit of everything), Kalie Dixon (Fr., F; Strong inside and athletic player who will give us help at the 3, 4, and 5 positions). Their development and contributions will help determine how we are as a team.

Keys to the season: In summary I feel that it will be an interesting year in that we will be playing a lot of teams that we have not played in the past so we do not have a lot of familiarity. That will work both ways. We want to try to play a lot of man to man defense and get out and run the floor. Running the floor will mean we have to commit to playing solid “D” and working on the boards. If we can do that I feel we will be competitive. Looking forward to getting underway and hopefully for the girls, being able to complete a season.

Things your team is doing during the COVID-19 pause of winter sports: This has been a very unusual off-season with the COVID-19 having a major impact on development of young players. I realize that all school districts are different with how they treated athletics and I can only speak to how they were handled in Bradford. From the end of our season until November of this year we were not able to get together at all. We had three open gyms in November two weeks before practice was to start and we have had three practices before things were shut down again. So, if in fact, they allow us to start up again after the first of the year, we need to get in seven practices before we could have a game. The time lost is a real detriment for those girls that are coming up from the jayvees as well as the freshmen so we will be learning and teaching on the fly.

                       

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