Girls basketball preview: Greenwood Christian

<p>The goal for girls basketball teams at Greenwood Christian is always set one level higher than what got achieved the previous season.</p><p>Two years ago, the Cougars won their first-ever sectional championship, so last year’s team was dead set on winning a regional. Mission accomplished.</p><p>That leaves only so much more ladder to climb, and the rungs that remain lead straight to the Class A state championship game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Feb. 27.</p><p>&quot;Anything less than playing in the state championship this year is going to be a disappointment to them,&quot; GCA coach Alan Weems said.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>That’s a high bar that the Cougars are setting, to be sure. But it’s also reasonable for them to expect to clear it.</p><p>GCA graduated just one player, Alexis Mead, from last year’s semistate qualifier — and while the sharpshooting 1,000-point scorer leaves a void, the Cougars are confident that the improvements made by the returning players — plus the addition of senior transfer Brooklyn Stubblefield, a three-year starter at Greenwood — will be more than enough to make up the difference.</p><p>The consensus from the holdovers is that it’ll be far better to play with Stubblefield than against her.</p><p>&quot;We all work so well together as a team, so her coming into that was like another puzzle piece,&quot; said senior Savvanah Frye, who played together with Stubblefield at Greenwood when the two were freshmen. &quot;Her coming in just adds a little more spice to our starting lineup.&quot;</p><p>Joining Frye again in that lineup will be a pair of juniors, guard Ellie Bigelow and post player Dory O’Dell — along with the most well-known puzzle piece of all in senior Izzy Reed, the Daily Journal’s Player of the Year last winter after averaging 23.8 points and a state-best 15.3 rebounds.</p><p>The Indiana Wesleyan commit, who Weems has said &quot;plays with an energy that most kids don’t play with,&quot; sets the tone for the rest of the team with her non-stop motor — one that has driven her to put up video-game numbers the last few seasons.</p><p>At the pace she’s set, Reed could surpass the state’s career rebounding record of 1,308 held by Ta’Shia Phillips, who played at Brebeuf before doing on to Xavier and then the WNBA. She is also on track to break the county girls scoring record of 1,944 points, set by Indian Creek’s Kylee Hamilton.</p><p>Reed admits that those individual milestones cross her mind, but she won’t chase them at the expense of team goals.</p><p>&quot;If I’m playing hard, if I’m giving 100 percent, some of those are going to happen,&quot; she said. &quot;I’m not really thinking a ton about it, other than keep working hard all the time, do what this team needs — and I’m always trying to get better. And I think if I keep doing that, with that being where my mindset is at, I think those goals will be met.&quot;</p><p>The hope for Reed and the rest of the Cougars is that the ultimate goal would come along with those as well.</p><p>&quot;Obviously, we can’t overlook things,&quot; Frye said. &quot;We can’t overlook the tiny games, we can’t overlook sectionals. We have to look forward to those things, but our main goal is Bankers Life, and that’s the only thing our eyes are on right now.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Pushing past what we’ve already done is our goal,&quot; Bigelow added, &quot;so going past regionals is definitely a yes, and then going past semistate is definitely a yes.</p><p>&quot;So yeah, Bankers Life.&quot;</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="3 points with Savvanah Frye" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p><strong>1. Which nonconference opponent are you most looking forward to facing?</strong></p><p>I’m going to have to say Greenwood. Greenwood’s kind of the 4A school in the county, and we’re obviously the 1A, so we’re kind of the underdog in that situation, and me and Brooklyn have both transferred from there. … They’re kind of always the one where we’re like, &quot;Okay, let’s beat Greenwood.&quot; It’s just one of those things, so I’m really excited to play them.</p><p><strong>2. Which unknown player on this team will become a household name this winter?</strong></p><p>People know about Ellie, but … I have not seen a person work harder, and she exceeded all my expectations. And then Dory O’Dell is normally our fifth man, but I think she can kind of be our person this year. Both of them have just exceeded my expectations and they are working harder than I could have possibly imagined.</p><p><strong>3. Given the ongoing pandemic, how concerned are you about the season being interrupted in some way?</strong></p><p>Obviously it’s my senior year, and I want nothing more than to be at Bankers Life and to play my last games. At this point, I’m just kind of giving it up to God. … We’re kind of just all putting our trust in him and working as hard as we can to make sure we’re ready.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="Scouting the Cougars" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Head coach: Alan Weems</p><p>Last season: 23-6, won sectional and regional championships; lost to Loogootee in Class A semistate</p><p>Top returnees: Savvanah Frye and Izzy Reed, seniors; Ellie Bigelow, Kirsten Carlson, Chloe Grider and Dory O’Dell, juniors; Addie Jolley, sophomore</p><p>Key newcomers: Brooklyn Stubblefield, senior; Adgie Doria, sophomore</p><p>Outlook: Last season, the Cougars won the first regional title in school history in <em>any</em> sport. Just doing the same will likely be considered a disappointment for GCA, which lost sharpshooter Alexis Mead but added a well-rounded replacement in Stubblefield, a starter at Greenwood the last two seasons. Reed is on track to become the state’s career rebounding leader as well as the first girl in county history to score 2,000 career points — but individual accomplishments are trivial in the grand scheme of things; the Cougars want a state championship, and with a lead foursome of Reed, Frye, Bigelow and Stubblefield, they can definitely get it.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]