Back for More

Women’s basketball team looks to win second State title, despite losing pair of starters

By Maggie Brandenburg
<mbrandenburg@hilite.org>

With their first scrimmage of the season tonight against Pike High School, the women’s basketball team is once again on the road toward a State title. But this year is different. Due to their status as defending State champions, the team is now playing with a target on its back, and all of the extra pressure and attention may make the team’s goal of a repeat performance of their State tournament even harder.

But Head Coach Scott Bowen said he is not so sure the pressure on the team is necessarily a bad thing. He said the winning traditions of CHS help the team to relish that pressure and want the State title even more.

“Since we won State last year, we probably want to get back there,” Annie Rubendunst, varsity player and junior, said.

For Bowen, however, the goal of a State title could lead a team into a trap. So he said he hopes the goals for the team are to get better every practice and every game. Furthermore, he said he just wants the team to give its best showing every time it steps onto the court.

The team returns for its 2008-2009 season missing some of its key players from last year. Players like Danielle Havel ’08 could leave big holes in this year’s group, but the players said they can still compete on the same level as last year. According to Bowen, the team’s memories of how well they played in the State tournament last year are what will hopefully keep the team competitive and able to continue last year’s winning dynamics.

Rubendunst said, “We have six returning letter winners. So a fair amount of varsity players are returning.”

According to Torrie Thornton, varsity player and sophomore, it’s a different team this year, so they will have to do different things to stay competitive, but the team’s ability to adapt to injuries sustained during the State tournament last year and up-and-coming new players will be a huge benefit to the team. This ability to meet the challenges of losing players will most likely play a big role in how successful the team will be in their effort to defend their title.

“We had to step up. A lot of people had to step up and do different things,” Thornton said.

One element that has not changed for the team is its tough Sectional rivals and “loaded” conference, the toughest in the state, according to Bowen. Last year, the team was not even expected to make it past its game against Ben Davis High School, where the team was the underdog against a heavily favored opponents ranked number one in the state at the time. According to Rubendunst, Ben Davis, along with the team’s yearly rival, Hamilton Southeastern High School, will be the biggest cause of troubles for the team in the season ahead.

“Probably Ben Davis (will be the biggest competition) because they ranked number one in the state last year and we upset them,” Rubendunst said.