Chronicle-Tribune

 

BY JUSTIN KENNY

While the end of the season ended with disappointment for Oak Hill at the hands of Heritage Christian once again, the 2008-09 campaign was another year full of great moments for the Golden Eagles.

From Courtney Moses’ half-court shot to beat Wawasee in triple overtime at the Hall of Fame Classic to having four players eclipse the 1,000-point plateau for their careers in the same season, the last several months were some of the most exciting in Oak Hill girls’ basketball history.

“You look at what these kids accomplished based on the expectations that were on this team and the pressure we all felt, it was just phenomenal,” Coach Todd Law said. “With us basically accomplishing every goal that we could with the exception of state, I could not be prouder of what these kids have handled the entire season.”

Returning four starters from a year ago, it was expected by some for the Golden Eagles to breeze back to the Class 2A title game. But a tougher schedule brought some bigger challenges Oak Hill’s way in the regular season.

Games against three teams ranked at the time as No. 1-ranked teams in the state in Ben Davis, Wawasee and Fort Wayne Elmhurst highlighted a rigorous slate of games. Coincidentally, Ben Davis and Elmhurst won state titles last Saturday.

While the sting of another loss to Heritage Christian will take some time to heal, Oak Hill is proud it took a top-15 team in the country to the brink.

“You look into the future 50 years from now, the girls will remember that they played their very best against a sensational team,” Law said. “There wasn’t a girl on the team you could look at and say they weren’t on top of their game.”

On the biggest stage in girls’ basketball in the state, the Golden Eagles handled the pressure with their typical casual style.

“During some of those marathon (media) timeouts, we would just take 30 to 40 seconds just having fun,” Law said. “I don’t know if it was obvious … but I have never had more fun coaching a game than I did (Saturday).”

Oak Hill will lose a pair of starters to graduation in Lauren Meese and Kristen Hicks, both huge parts of the perimeter game who averaged double digits in scoring.

“Those are two enormous hits to our team,” Law said. “I think the hardest part of (Saturday) was knowing how much we were losing on and off the court with those two.”

The seniors, which include Brittany Berry and Cara Fultz, went a combined 91-12 their four years at the varsity level.

Hicks, which will move on to Bethel College next season, was a key asset off the dribble who developed a 3-point shot over the last few years. Meese was the opposite, with deadly perimeter accuracy that went along with an ongoing development of being able to penetrate.

But Oak Hill will return two of its workhorses in Moses and Ashley Pickering. Both will likely be candidates for Miss Basketball during their senior campaigns, and the duo’s inside-out ability that was on display against Heritage Christian will likely get more refined in the offseason.

“Courtney is just Courtney, she’s a stud,” Law said. “I was thrilled with Ashley’s tournament run with the way she played.

“Going into the postseason, I was concerned where she was from the standpoint of getting into too much foul trouble, but she continued to improve every step in the tournament.”

Moses will bring back a 18.3 points per game average, while Pickering averaged 16.2 points and 9.5 rebounds a contest.

Marissa Coolman will also return, a player who grew into her forward position as the season progressed and became a viable fifth option in the starting lineup.

“We are very excited with the improvement that Marissa has made,” Law said.

Candidates to move into the starting lineup are plenty for Oak Hill. Freshman Shancy Larson became a more steady guard off the bench as she learned the high school game during the season. Sophomore Lorrie Newhouse will also see significant minutes, as well as junior Rachel Winger.

“So far, we have been able to develop one of two kids in the offseason to fit into the spots we need to replace,” Law said. “But I find that in the five years I’ve been here, people get more concerned than I do about who will fit where, it always seems to work out.”

While thoughts are already turning to next season, Law isn’t ready to let go of this year’s accomplishments.

“People always say that it’s just a game, but it’s not,” Law said. “Not when you spend so much time working on it, but it’s not bigger than life.

“The thing that makes it easier for them is that they should be happy and satisfied with our season and that we played as well as we possibly could in the final game of the season.”