Long on seniors, short on experience

Scott County Central coach Semona Penrod enters her 14th year as the leader of the Bravettes program with a much different looking team than she ended her 13th season with.

Last year's squad won 20 games and earned a berth in a Class 1 state quarterfinal game, but Penrod does not know what to expect this season.

"It's kind of a new game for us this year," Penrod said. "I would say we're rebuilding, but I've got eight seniors. So let me tell why we're rebuilding -- I have six players who have either never played the sport or have very little experience before those seniors coming in that haven't played much at all.

"We have so much inexperience it's kind of wild right now. Honestly, at this point, I couldn't give five starters and I know it's only two weeks away."

Scott Central returns only one returning player who started every game last winter, 5-foot-4 senior Brianna Johnson.

But because so much turnover has occurred, Penrod has moved Johnson to point guard -- a position she never before has played.

"It [her transition to point guard] is a little bit rough right now, but you don't really know until you start playing," Penrod said. "There are kids who are going to have to step up and fill gaps just like every other program goes through."

Two other players also returning who saw some starting time last year are 5-8 center Jamisha Williams and 5-8 forward Amanda Lawless. Both play well offensively near the basket, Penrod said.

"One of the biggest weaknesses we have right now is we're small, and on top of it, we're not very quick," Penrod said. "Normally, we're always small but we usually have some quickness. We don't have much quickness and we have a lot of experience. Now, on the other side of that, I think I have some kids here who are smart and they'll pick up some things to help us before tournament time and that's the biggest thing."