Sophs set to lead Spartans
The Elgin Community College women's basketball team will take the court for the 2008-09 campaign behind the leadership of returning sophomores Jamie Jara and Meaghan Staley-Gamble. Head coach Jerry McLaughlin returns to the helm for his eighth season.
McLaughlin has helped the Spartans to a Skyway Conference co-championship at 22-10 overall (2002-03) and repeated the 22-10 mark the following season. A teacher and coach since 1977, McLaughlin has also been a head coach and assistant coach for NCAA Division I, II and III programs.
Staley-Gamble (Huntley) returns to the lineup as a center-forward and currently leads the Spartan offense averaging 13 points per game. Jara (Bartlett) will again play at guard and is averaging 4 points and 5 assists per game. McLaughlin will look for leadership from his veteran duo.
"Jamie is shaping up to be an excellent leader," said McLaughlin. "She is doing a great job of organizing our new girls, and is much more vocal than she was last year. Meaghan is another a strong return who I expect will lead by example."
Beyond Jara and Staley-Gamble, McLaughlin expects a talented group of freshman to have a quick impact at guard, forward and at the post positions.
Among those fresh faces are guards Lauren Gabler (Larkin), Nika Sircher (St. Charles North), Kelly Tuggle (Bartlett) and Brittany Armato (St. Charles East) as well as guard/forward Jamaris Droogan (Bolingbrook) and Krissy Kunavich (Streamwood).
Armato is a sophomore who didn't play last season, but shows a lot of potential having posted 12 points in two games. Gabler has also scored a dozen.
"Brittany is a great point guard who is already showing that she is also an excellent leader," said McLaughlin. "Leadership will be important for us as we are a very young, inexperienced team."
With a couple of games behind them, the game plan is simple.
"I'm looking to see consistent, intense basketball," McLaughlin said. "We have a lot of athletic ability. We just need to put the inside and the outside together. Early on, we are focusing on the little things - layups, free throws and turnovers."
Larkin graduates Sophie Sterricker (forward) and Latishia Harris (center), and Kaneland's Brittney Hankes will look to make noise in the paint.
In a pair of games Sterricker and Hankes have combined to score 25 points.
"We are starting a number of freshmen and we are using a lot of players going eight-nine deep," said McLaughlin. "We're doing some things really well, but need consistency."
The overall agenda for the Spartans in the weeks ahead includes staying out of foul trouble, scoring early and often and a mix of both man and zone coverage defensively.
"Despite inexperience, our goal is to compete for the conference title," McLaughlin said. "Beyond early season adjustments, I see a very solid team here."