Lady Rockets want to repeat last year’s success
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
The Lady Rockets’ Erin Confortini moves the ball down the court during practice.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Jefferson-Morgan girls basketball coach Chris Niemec watches as Payton Wright goes to the hoop with the ball during practice.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Jefferson-Morgan’s Brynn Boyd shoots the ball at practice.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Jefferson-Morgan’s Autumn Gustovich grabs a pass during a practice.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Jefferson-Morgan’s Jamie Lawrence dribbles across the court as fellow senior Erin Confortini looks on in the background during practice at Jefferson-Morgan High School.
Chris Niemiec, head coach of the Jefferson-Morgam Lady Rockets girls basketball team.
After back-to-back 20-win seasons and the first-ever section title in school’s history, the Jefferson-Morgan girls basketball squad will look to do more of the same in a revamped Section 2-A in 2016-17.
The Lady Rockets went 20-2 last year and a perfect 14-0 in section play. Despite the success in the regular season, J-M postseason stay only lasted in the first round with a loss to Winchester Thurston.
“We lost five key seniors from last year’s team,” third-year coach Chris Niemiec said. “The gym is almost eerily quiet thus far, but I think that’s because it is the acceptance of change and responsibility. There is a lot of potential varsity time to be had and the girls seem to be more focused on making an impression.
“Our expectations don’t change too much. We want consistent improvement throughout the year, a winning record and make the playoffs.”
J-M will remain in Class A and Section 2 consists of Avella, Geibel Catholic, Mapletown, Monessen and West Greene.
“I think West Greene has a ton of talent coming back and will be very difficult to beat,” Niemiec expressed. “They are probably the favorite. However, I do think the gap for all of the other teams will definitely be closer this year from top to bottom. I couldn’t pick two other teams for the playoffs, out of us and West Greene.”
The Lady Rockets will be led by three experienced seniors: Erin Confortini (5-9), Jamie Lawrence (5-3) and Anna Mattish (5-4).
“Those three will have a lot on their shoulders,” Niemiec pointed out, “They will be asked to anchor both sides of the court. Offensively, Erin and Anna will be asked to pick up some of the scoring slack we lost in graduation. Jamie will move over to point guard this year and will help guide this team.
“On defense, these three were already leaders last year. Erin averages over a block a game for her career and Jamie averaged nearly four steals a game last year. Anna’s speed and athleticism creates problems for whomever she is covering.”
J-M has 15 kids on the roster and Niemiec would like to go eight deep at the varsity level. Other players that might be key factors are juniors Leslie White (5-3), Sadie Fowler (5-8) and Savannah Saesan (5-11), and sophomore Brynn Boyd (5-10).
After allowing only 31.5 points per game last year, defense will once again be a critical element for the Lady Rockets’ success in 2016-17.
“Defense will continue to be the staple of the team,” Niemiec said. “We are going to defend and we are going to defend hard. We might switch up defenses more this year. And we need to rebound as a team this year and limit second shots. We will continue to limit the number of shots and most importantly challenge every shot possible.”
J-M will open the season at the Freedom Tournament on Dec. 9-10 and will also be involved in the three-day Lady Trojan Christmas Tournament that starts on Dec. 27.
The Lady Rockets begin section play at West Greene on Jan. 3.