In a transitional year for the Madison-Grant Argylls a season ago, there were some growing pains.
In the first season of Head Coach Brandon Bradley’s tenure as the Argylls’ girls basketball coach, Madison-Grant finished the season with a 3-20 record, which included seven and 13-game losing streaks.
But despite their share of struggles, there were several positives that emerged.
Azmae Turner, at 5-10, proved to be a capable ball-handler and offensive facilitator before missing nine games with a wrist injury. Gracey Fox and Zoey Barnett showed tremendous growth in all facets of their game, while Blayklee Stitt provided consistent energy and enthusiasm each time she stepped on the floor.
Heading into year two of Bradley’s program, the continued growth of those aforementioned players, combined with some exciting new additions, should result in a much more improved group for Madison-Grant in the 2019-2020 season.
“The biggest difference in the last week and a half has simply been familiarity,” Bradley said. “Last year, when we started practice, I met these girls for the first time at our first practice. To not have a system in place and not have anything they were comfortable with, that took a lot of time last year, and it probably wasn’t until well after Thanksgiving before they really bought into everything.
“This year, they know me. They know what to expect. We kind of picked up where we left off last season, so the transition has been really good. Obviously, we are re-teaching some things and adding some new things, but in general, the learning process has been easier because they are much more open to it.”
Throughout offseason workouts and the early stages of the preseason, Bradley has been impressed with the progress he has seen.
“We knew last year we had very little experience,” Bradley said. “This year, it’s kind of the same thing to some degree. We are still young, for the most part. We only have two seniors with experience right now, Stitt and McKenna Lugar, who is coming back out. Azmae is back [fully] healthy. She’s a little taller. She’s a little stronger, and she’s playing at the best level I’ve ever seen.It’s been really encouraging. Gracey Fox is a little more confident this year, too. McKenna helps inside. We moved Zoey into more of an interior position, out of necessity and desire. “
Furthermore, senior Kasey Cleaver, together with sophomores Chelsea Bowland and Mary Mayfield, have also shown tremendous growth in practice, and Bradley expects them all to make significant contributions this season.
The Argylls have worked on various drills in an effort to learn new concepts as well as reinforce offensive and defensive skill sets.
“These first couple weeks have been kind of a mixture of everything,” Bradley said. “We’ve touched on what we ran last year that we are going to continue. We’ve added in some new things offensively and defensively. We have four coaches this year…and we are able to split off a lot more often and work, whether that’s situational drilling or position-specific stuff. That has been really good.”
Lugar and Fox will be the team’s primary post players, while Barnett, who played a lot on the perimeter a season ago, will play more underneath the basket in 2019-2020 – a move that Bradley believes will help to unlock her potential.
In the backcourt, Turner will take over most of the point guard duties, while Stitt will rotate mostly at the two-guard spot.
The third frontcourt spot is still up in the air for now, but Mayfield, Bowland, and Cleaver are all vying for that position, while senior Bryleigh Sullivan and junior Sarah Duncan will get the first cracks off the bench throughout the campaign.
Obviously, Bradley and his coaching staff are looking for more wins than they had a season ago, but more importantly, they want this group to continue to play with heart, intensity, and most of all, effort, as the season progresses.
“Our expectations are to continue to work with effort and play within and a little bit beyond our capabilities,” Bradley said. “We don’t put numbers on wins and losses. Not only are we going to try to win more games, but at the same time, I think it’s important to be competitive in every game.”
