Familiar faces to lead Lady Bears on the court

LAUREL — It’s been quite the bummer of a preseason for the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge girls basketball team.

That’s because the school went through a COVID-19 lockdown as kids were sent home and any type of practice was a no-go until Nov. 23.

With only two weeks to go before the opener, head coach Marcus Messersmith had to get to work and fast.

In his first year guiding the Lady Bears, the LCC girls finished 13-12 and fell in a close game to Pleasanton in a District final – falling only a few wins short of the current co-op best 16-7.

In his second season here, the Lady Bears will feature a mixture of youth and experience.

The Orange and Black return three fulltime starters that started and five players that started throughout the year last year.

“We are very young - 13 of 17 players are freshman and sophomores,” he said.

The veterans that got to see varsity time last year include Kinsey Hall (13.6 ppg), Erica Wolfgram (7.5 ppg), Jordynn Urwiler and Cassie Granquist.

“I definitely think of a more put-together team this year than last year,” Hall said. “Our freshmen are really stepping it up. We have all 17 girls to be on an equal skill level so we have people to scrimmage against and they can really push us.”

The Lady Bears shouldn’t have a problem matching up with tall teams, either.

“We have a pretty tall team so that’s exciting. We have two girls right around six-foot and two other that are 5-foot-11,” said Hall.

“I think we should mix it up,” said Hall, who is not only one of the six-footers, but also the team’s point guard. “We will be a complex, pretty well put together team.”

Despite the youth, Hall thinks the team should stay on pace at least with last year and could offer multiple outside scoring threats.

“We have a couple people who can drive the ball, so we should be in a pretty good place to be a good, all-around team,” Hall said.

Messersmith noted that his team is going to be all in for a challenge as the schedule presented plenty of tough opponents including Crofton, Ponca, Cedar, Battle Creek will all be very tough.

“We will play a controlled style and we will be seven or eight deep with a lot of young girls contributing,” Messersmith said. “At times we will be slowing the game down to keep our legs fresh.”

After dealing with COVID-19 before even tipping off on a real game this campaign, the Lady Bears coach has a pragmatic attitude when discussing the possibilities of the virus wreaking havoc in 2020-21.

“I’m sure we will miss a few games because of COVID, but we will deal with it as it comes,” Messersmith said.

The craziness of a quarantine hasn’t been lost on Hall and gives perspective on what the future may hold.

“We’re working really hard these past days because we are obviously a whole week behind everybody else,” Hall said. “We are definitely there, but the biggest issue will be conditioning-wise. It definitely is a little frustrating now knowing if there will be a season. So, our mindset is play hard because every game you get to play is a blessing and play like it’s your last.”

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