As they have all season, the Lake Braddock girls basketball team opened practice Monday morning with a series of ball handling drills. Next, the Bruins ran through the basics of their offense without a defense there to defend it.
Both exercises were designed to emphasize some of the basic concepts that second-year coach Carl Harris has tried to implement, while not trying to lump too much on his players at one time.
But the second half of practice featured a series of more complicated, situational drills, with varying amounts of time left on the clock and either a two-point deficit to erase or a two-point lead to protect.
Lake Braddock has been forced to ramp up the difficulty of its practices recently, as the Bruins are in the middle of a 10-day stretch that features contests with the Patriot District’s top four teams: T.C. Williams, West Springfield, Lee and South County.
“You have to grow up when you’re playing against [T.C. Williams senior] Tierra Ruffin-Pratt and [West Springfield senior] Sam Landers,” said senior guard Rachel Toner. “You can’t be passive. … You have to be really aggressive.
“Sometimes you have to stray from the offense to make things happen because they’re not going to let you run through it 10 times in a row like in practice.”
<b>HARRIS HASN’T</b> tried to re-invent the game of basketball with his team. He has simply tried to teach it. All of it. The coach believes that post players should be able to handle the ball and guards should be comfortable working down low.
The Bruins’ roster includes a lot of youth and some experience, with two freshmen, five sophomores, a junior and four seniors. Players have adjusted accordingly and now feel more comfortable with most things that Harris expects.
“With a new coach, it was kind of rough, but it’s getting better,” said senior guard Brittany Peebles. “We’re looking more into the post. We go more inside and keep the ball moving a lot, not just going down the court and getting one pass and one shot.”
As a part of teaching the game, Harris has provided his team with a list of ball handling drills to do both at practice and at home. Players have taken a liking to them, mainly because of the improvement that they’ve seen in their performance.
With a game against South County on Wednesday night, Lake Braddock is 4-9 overall, 2-3 in Patriot District play, but Harris feels that the team has been much more competitive than in years past.
The coach still wants to iron out some of the situational difficulties that his team has faced, namely execution during key times late in the contest.
“We’re trying to teach them composure and how to believe in themselves,” Harris said. “Because right now we’re in a place where when games are close, they don’t believe they can win.”
<b>A BIG REASON</b> for Lake Braddock’s newfound competitiveness has been the play of Toner, Peebles and leading scorer Carol Dye, a senior forward and the team’s primary inside presence. Dye leads the team with an average of 13.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
Toner, the team’s primary ball handler, scores an average of 4.6 points per game while leading the team with 4.5 assists and 3 steals per contest. Peebles gives the team an athletic, slashing-type player and she’s contributed 8.5 points and four rebounds per game.
Lake Braddock started the series with five straight losses but earned three consecutive wins over the holidays, besting Washington-Lee, Wakefield and Hayfield. The Bruins played South County Wednesday night, which ended after this edition went to press.
The four-game gauntlet began with a five-point loss to West Springfield on Jan. 13 and doesn’t end until Friday’s home date with Lee. While Harris has enjoyed using these four games as a barometer for his team’s progress, he still wants to keep everything in perspective.
“Our girls are slowly starting to understand what it takes to be a good team, to beat West Springfield, T.C. Williams and Lee,” Harris said. “I think it’s important that the girls understand what they’re supposed to do most of the game. Situations are different times and places where they come about.
“Now that we have those [basic] things in place, then you can teach them if it’s a five-point game with three minutes left, what do we do?”