Medomak Valley freshman Jenna Davis takes a shot during the first practice of the season on Monday, Nov. 17 in Waldoboro. (Mic LeBel photo)
It may be challenging for the Medomak Valley girls basketball team to match the success of last season due to the graduation of some of last season’s key players, including the KVAC Player of the Year.
Panthers head coach Lindsay Vinal is confident, however, that the Panthers have a strong lineup that can make a deep playoff run if they can get significant contributions from emerging young players, make adjustments that maximize their size advantage, and find a way to score consistently without Kytana Williamson, who now holds the all time leading scoring record for the program.
In addition to Williamson, the Panthers lost third leading scorer Audrey Jackson and important role players Lilly Christ and Sadie Knight to graduation.
Last year, the Panthers posted a 13-5 record during the regular season to earn the No. 2 seed in Class B South. They beat No. 7 seed Leavitt in a quarterfinal before losing in overtime to Oceanside in a semifinal during which the Panthers led by eight points with less than two minutes remaining.
It will be impossible to replace Williamson, who scored 360 points in 18 regular season games, and tallied the 1,000th point of her career during her senior year. She was also a semifinalist for the Maine Miss Basketball Award presented to the best female player in the state based on voting by the members of the Maine Association of Basketball Coaches.
“Our strength this year will be our height,” said Vinal. “A new challenge for us in the post-Kytana era will be ball handling and 3-point scoring.”
The Panthers will count on a pair of tall seniors, Chloe Fox (6’1”) and Claudia Feeley (5’11”) to lead the squad on offense and defense. Fox was the second leading scorer, averaging 6.6 points. Feeley was a top rebounder that scored the sixth most points (52) despite missing a number of games due to injury. Feeley had a huge game in the semifinal with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Freshman Rheanne Simmons attempts to block a shot during Medomak Valley’s first practice on Monday, Nov. 17 in Waldoboro. (Mic LeBel photo)
Vinal is hoping that sophomore guard Anna Reed is ready to take over the ball-handling duties after a strong freshman season in which she was the team’s fourth leading scorer. Sophomore Sienna Lee emerged as a scoring threat and top defender toward the end of her freshman season and is expected to help fill the scoring void this year.
Vinal noted that she has been impressed with a pair of freshmen, Jenna Davis and Rheanne Simmons, who played in scrimmages for the Panthers this summer. Davis and Simmons were strong performers for the Medomak Middle School squad last winter and Vinal thinks they will both play a key role for the Panthers on offense.
“Jenna Davis looked really good during summer ball,” said Vinal. “She can get the ball up the court and is a strong shooter.”
Other returning varsity players expected to play key roles include seniors Alyssa Smith and Rachel Richardson, and juniors Rachel Barbour, Molly Emerson, and Paige Gerlack.
The Panthers have some new additions to the girls basketball coaching staff this season. Jake Emerson, who served as the eighth grade boys coach at Medomak Middle School, is the new assistant coach. Chelsea Ripley is the new JV girls coach. Last year Ripley served as the coach of Medomak Middle School’s seventh grade girls team.
The Panthers will test out their new lineup in scrimmages at the Lawrence Tip-Off on Saturday, Nov. 22, against Mount Desert Island on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at the Winthrop Tip-Off on Saturday, Nov. 29, and on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at Hall-Dale. They will officially open their season on Friday, Dec. 5 against Erskine.
Freshman Caroline Snell plays defense in a drill during Medomak Valley’s first practice of the season on Monday, Nov. 17 in Waldoboro. (Mic LeBel photo)
