Paris girls basketball has been figuring out how to succeed small the past couple years.
The last time the Lady Coyotes had a winning season was a 17-12 season in 2020 in which they also won a …
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Paris girls basketball has been figuring out how to succeed small the past couple years.
The last time the Lady Coyotes had a winning season was a 17-12 season in 2020 in which they also won a district title. They had four out of five 20-win seasons prior to that but declined after current Southwest Baptist junior and 6-foot-6 Tori Hamilton and current Stephens College senior Allison Moore graduated.
Concerning last season’s 4-19 record, head coach Garrett Thomas said the team had six girls available by the end of it and had to employ a 2-3 zone defense to conserve energy. This year is a polar opposite as there are more girls out, with several coming off a competitive 12-14 softball season.
“We couldn’t really play fast,” Thomas said. “We’ll switch to man-to-man defense a little bit more and be able to press, which we haven’t been able to do in a couple years.”
Junior Kameron Arnett was the third-leading scorer at 5.6 points. Sophomores Kennedy Ashenfelter and Alyssa Webb have a season under their belts and Rachel Shoemyer is the team’s lone senior.
“They started quite a few games last year,” Thomas said. “They got a lot experience playing against pretty quality talent and have been really good leaders for us.”
The incoming freshmen, who all played softball, are Mairyn Kinnaman, Emma Ashenfelter, Sophia Crusha and Reese Sutton, who Thomas said bring good defense, solid shooting and aggressiveness.
That reinforces a strength Thomas thinks this team has, which is parity.
“A lot of girls have pretty similar skills,” Thomas said. “Because of that, there’s not going to be a lot of letdown when we sub players in and out so we could play a pretty deep roster.”
Thomas said the girls on the team leaves Paris at a height disadvantage but could compensate after more experience because the Lady Coyotes are still young.
When it comes to a record this year, Thomas said he doesn’t have a certain number in mind but the more competitive games should increase.
“I think we’re going to be a lot more competitive this season,” Thomas said. “I think we’re going to be in most of the games we play. It’s going to be a good building year for things to come in the future.”
