Prep Basketball: Indians Girls Off to a Sizzling Start

girls basketball head coach Denikwa James doesn’t want to say she’s shocked by her squad’s scorching hot start to the 2011-12 season, however, boasting an 9-2 record ten games in—nearly equaling the Indians win total from a year ago—let’s just say she’s pleasantly surprised.

After dropping the season opener to Fallston, Franklin has secured victories in nine of its next ten games (a stretch that included a seven game winning streak) and outscored its opponents by 15 points per game. Four times during that seven game run, the Indians staunch defense held the opposition to under 30 points.

“I didn’t see it coming, but I knew we had a better team than last year,” James said. “I’m very excited about the start. I can see them getting better and better each game.”

James attributes much of the steady improvement to senior leader and starting point guard Ashley Reid, who’s controlled the tempo for the Indians and made sure to incorporate all of Franklin’s players into the offense.

Reid is also one of several players to step up their game from outside shooting the basketball—a major reason why the Indians are averaging over 51 points per game. Fellow senior Kim Dorsey—relatively quiet as a scorer last year—has played a large role as well, netting double digit point totals in all but one of Franklin’s games this year.

When sophomore Jordan McDowell returns from her concussion injury next week, the Indians will trot out three legitimate threats from the perimeter.

“I think this is the best shooting time I’ve had in a couple years," James said.

The coach also heaped praise on freshman Nataya Evans who’s emerged as one of Franklin’s top contributor on the boards. James estimates that Evans is easily the team’s top rebounder on the offensive end. Still, as a team, James says, the Indians have to work on boxing out.

“Our girls just want to use their athletic ability to jump and they have to understand that a lot of girls have more athletic ability to jump higher,” James said. “Boxing out is what we have to work on to make our team stronger.”

The Indians will also have to increase their success at the foul line. In last week’s 12-point loss at New Town, Franklin shot just 7 of 25 (28 percent) from the charity stripe.

The next day, instead of simply practicing free throws, James simulated a game scenario by having her team run a series of sprints before taking turns shooting at the line. Consistently, bending your knees and following through is even tougher when you’re fatigued, but that’s what the Indians will have to do to not leave points on the floor.