Lady Wolves Basketball starts season under new head coach

Clinton Landon is the new head coach of the Lady Wolves Basketball team, and this is his first year as the head coach. He has been the Junior Varsity coach for the past nine years and has been coaching basketball for 15 years.

"The team has a good group of girls that I am excited to coach," said Coach Landon. "It has always been fun to have the same group of girls that I have coached in JV and now I get to coach them in Varsity."

There are 10 new freshmen that joined the team. Coach Landon said "I am excited for the freshmen class to join the team. I got to coach them in middle school."

While Landon coached the freshmen team in middle school, the team only lost one game. Since there are a total of 30 basketball players, the freshmen will be asked to play at different levels.

"The freshmen's have a good mix of guards and posts," Landon said. "I am kind of excited to see where they are placed and what they can contribute to the team."

There are 17 returning players this season. Nine of the returning players have experience playing on the Varsity team last season.

Some of the strengths of the team include senior leadership. The team has a good mix of guards and posts, and the guards are fast and good shooters, which will help the team to switch between fast transitions and half-court play.

"We have strong post play from players like Addison Demaret, Maci Hernandez, Eva Murray, and Sophia Arnold," explained Coach Landon.

All four of these athletes can shoot from the outside, and the coach expects that the mix of good guards and posts are going to be a significant advantage against the other teams.

"I expect a lot from Nicole Wilson, she started late in the season but played a lot and did really well," he said.

The team worked on getting in shape for the first tournament and worked on getting up and down the court. Coach Landon conditioned the athletes so that the team can easily hit the court. They also worked on transitioning and getting up on the other team so they can get turnovers. Coach Landon explained that "the younger girls joining the team have to get use to playing together and getting into the weekly schedule."

The team had three team camps and one individual camp throughout the summer. These included Utah Valley University; Manilla, Utah; and Mesa, Colorado. Open gym and the weight room were open all summer, five days a week. The girls committed to being at open gyms and the weight room. Coach Landon is happy with the team's commitment and preparation during the off-season.

The team will compete in Casper against Sheridan on December 12; Arvada, Colorado on December 13; and Laramie on December 14. Sheridan won the State Championship during last year's season. Coach Landon said "we have to make sure we are ready for the first game and the challenges the team faces by going up against the state champs." Coach Landon believes "we have the group of girls to do that."