The Lady Bulldogs weathered a perfect storm of bad luck this season. The Bulldogs had graduated all five starters from the previous year. The off season found only 41 percent attendance for basketball activities as there were many other activities causing conflicts. The lack of returning experience was further hampered as the season rolled around. The Bulldogs would only have 3 seniors on the team. The Bulldogs were expecting 5 juniors to start the season.
Unfortunately, by opening tip off there would be only one junior available for action. A couple of major injuries hurt the cause significantly over the course of the season. This would affect the season substantially as players who should grow up in the junior varsity ranks would be forced to play at the varsity level throughout the year.
The Bulldogs would enter the season against a schedule that was brutal. 10 of the 23 Bulldog opponents faced would wind up with a division 1 record which means they won over 75% of their games on the season. 18 of the 23 Bulldog opponents would end the season with a winning record. Only 5 opponents all year would be division 3 and none of the opponents would end the season as a division 4 team. Not a good schedule for a team trying to rebuild and facing the injuries the Bulldogs faced. Only four varsity players would be available for every game this season. It was rare to have the entire varsity core available for a game during the season. The last two weeks of the season were particularly ravished by injury and by the flu bug as well. By the sub-district game there were only 11 players available to suit up and 4 of them were returning that night from being ill.
Eight different players would get an opportunity to start a game somewhere throughout the season. The seniors seeing starting action were Jordan Hopp, Cameron Tritle and Payton Weber, the junior was Keeley Mazanec and the sophomores were Amauri Browning, Shelbee Burke, Angie Davis and Leyton Schnell. Though this season was hampered, the experience gained will be invaluable in the upcoming years. Two juniors will be a major force next season saw little action this year due to injury. Payten Gibson returned at the end of the season for only 2 games. Olivia Knapp played only seven games this year due to two different injuries. Many other underclassmen saw valuable varsity playing time including Braelyn Shrewsbury, Emma Wood, Avah Steggall, Bailey Stark, Macala Hood, Haley Weare, Kenna Montes and Luna Gonzalez.
The team showed great heart as was evidenced by their shorthanded performance against Brush late in the year. Most teams who had not won a game and faced a 12-4 team with only seven varsity players would have folded the tents. Instead, this team battled and was within 4 late in the game. This was the true heart of this team! Very proud of how our girls continued to battle throughout the season while finishing 0-23. The Bulldogs would be hampered all year by turnovers and a poor shooting percentage. The Bulldogs would average 34.3 turnovers a game and shoot 27% from the field and 46% from the line.
The Bulldogs used a value point system throughout the year to grade performance. This system was incorporated by Hudl and used the positive statistics divided by the negative statistics. 1.00 is considered a good game for a player. This system is based on statistics only and does not show the heart, passion, intensity or knowledge of the players. We had many performances above that 1.00 level during the course of the season. The final statistics showed these five players in order of score as the top performers: Jordan Hopp, Shelbee Burke, Payton Weber, Emma Wood and Keeley Mazanec. The top scorers on the season were Angie Davis (6.4 ppg), Payton Weber (5.4 ppg) and Jordan Hopp (4.4ppg). The top rebounders were Jordan Hopp (8.2 rpg), Payton Weber (6.5 rpg) and Cameron Tritle (3.3 rpg). Payton Weber led the team with a 42% FG percentage. Emma Wood led the team in FT percentage with 75 percent but didn’t shoot enough to qualify for submission. Amauri Browning led the team of those who qualified in attempts with 54 percent. Jordan Hopp led the team in blocked shots with 3.9 per game. Cameron Tritle led the team in steals with 1.2 per game and assists with 1.3 per game.