Lady Mikes healthy, deep this season
The past seven years have been kind to the Carmichaels girls basketball program, as the Lady Mikes have garnered seven consecutive playoff berths under coach Jim Lane, and in 2011-12, Carmichaels will look to do the same — and then some — in Section 3-A.
After suffering some injuries and small numbers a year ago, the Lady Mikes will have 13 players on their roster and Lane is excited about the depth on the squad.
“Right around mid-December, we had some injuries and we were only playing with seven kids on our team,” Lane said. “I never thought I would miss 5-on-5 scrimmages in practice, but we just couldn’t do it last year.”
The Lady Mikes, who went 13-10 last year despite the low numbers, will have four starters coming back with six letterwinners and seven freshmen.
“We have had some intense, competitive practices so far,” Lane said. “It has been a very competitive atmosphere in our scrimmages and I really like our team makeup this year. We need contributions from everybody if we want to be successful this season.”
Carmichaels will be led by the junior guard duo of Anna Cree and Morgan Berardi. Both guards averaged around 15 points per game a season ago and will look to be leaders both on and off the court, as this is their third straight year they will be starters for the Lady Mikes.
“Both are special players for us,” Lane said. “Morgan is our point guard and she runs our offense and sets the tone for us defensively. Anna is a versatile kid and can play any of the five spots for us. They both can score inside and outside and they have worked on their defense a lot this off-season.”
Sophomore Amanda Brown and senior Marissa Krall, who has fully recovered from knee surgery last year, will be critical pieces for the Lady Mikes at both ends of the court. Senior Mikee Swartz and junior Mallory Stajnrajh will also provide solid minutes for Carmichaels this year.
Despite making the postseason last year, the Mikes have their sights set on improving as a team and moving up in the ranks in a very competitive section.
“It’s always a tough section and I think it’s the best section in all of Class A,” Lane said. “Fort Cherry is one of the best programs in the state, and Avella and Chartiers-Houston are always touch match-ups for any team. In order to be successful in this section you have to have solid fundamentals and be aggressive on both offense and defense.”
The Lady Mikes will start the season at the Charleroi Tip-off Tournament on Dec. 9-10, followed by non-section home games against Beth-Center (Dec. 12) and Frazier (Dec. 14). Carmichaels will play its first section contest at home versus Chartiers-Houston on Dec. 15.