Scouting Larkin girls basketball

Larkin Royals

Conference: Upstate Eight (River)

Coach: Alphonso Lott (2nd season, 0-23)

2009-2010 record: 0-23

Top returning players: Senior Kalya Pflueger (6-0, C), juniors Abigail Alvarez (5-7, G), Jill Casebeer (5-10, F), Maggie Hoffman (5-4, G)

Key newcomers: Junior Lillie Billick (5-4, G), freshman Tori Patterson (5-2, G)

Outlook: The Royals are still relatively young with only one senior on the roster, but are a year older. “Our strength is the girls know the system,” said Lott. “They know it much better than last year. Last year they were very young and they were still learning basketball. Hopefully from that growth they will exude confidence and do some good things on the court. They are sharper with the game. They have more court awareness and they understand the concepts much better.” Lott sees his team being aggressive around the basket. “We will probably be more of a driving team,” said Lott. “The offense we run gives the girls more driving options. We’re going to be more physical. We have to make up for the fact we don’t have a lot of height by being more physical.” Lott said the potential is there to make last year’s tough season a thing of the past. “We’re a thousand percent better than we were last year as a team. It’s just a matter of how we perform when we get on the court.” Hoffman advanced to the sectional final level of the state 3-point shooting contest last year.