Ben Murphy
Sports Scene
They aren’t known as a girls’ basketball powerhouse. In fact, since John Glenn High School opened in 1976, the Lady Bobcats have won just three conference and two district championships. With John Glenn 6-1 as of December 18 after trouncing All Saints Central 44-19, fourth-year head coach Cory Snider is hoping that winning becomes a tradition.
“So far, we have played well because of our ability to shut down teams from scoring,” Snider said, adding that his squad gives up an average of 32 points a game. “We are able to get turnovers and turn those into easy and quick offensive opportunities. Also, our overall team camaraderie and understanding of each other has allowed us to key in on each other’s strengths and successfully fill the voids of our weaknesses.”
The Bobcats went 4-17 in Snider’s first year before improving to 7-15 in the 2010-11 season, a year in which they also made it to the district final. Last year, they finished with a 17-5 record, racking up the second most wins in the school’s history before falling to Frankenmuth in the district championship .
“We have continually improved for the last four years, but last year was a big hurdle for us,” Snider said. “The girls have put in the necessary time to become a very good basketball team, but we are not satisfied with just being good.”
Returning from last year’s squad are seniors Kristen Tobin (guard), Sydney Thelen (guard), Becky Gillespie (guard), Taylor Scholz (post), Erin Caspers (post), Kylie Balwinksi (post), and junior Jessica Hegenaur (forward).
“Tobin provides quality leadership in the backcourt,” Snider said of his senior guard, who has averaged 7.3 points and two assists through seven games. “She is a three-year varsity starting point guard. There aren’t a whole lot of situations that make her uncomfortable or that she hasn’t encountered.
“Thelen provides a spark for our team defensively; the ball pressure that she can put on opposing guards really frustrates them and allows us to get easy steals that lead to layups for us,” Snider added. “Caspers is a three-year player for us who, because of need, had to change positions. She has adapted and done a wonderful job as an undersized post player.”
New to the team are senior Meghan Lupa (forward), junior Katie Johnson (post), sophomore Lindsay Kreifeldt (guard), and freshmen Jenai LaPorte (guard) and Jamie Brisson (forward).
“LaPorte has done a great job coming in as a freshman and understanding how the varsity game is played,” Snider said of his rookie guard, who has averaged 15.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, three steals, and 2.3 assists a game. “She has done a little bit of everything for us. She’s been asked to score, rebound, run the team, and that’s a lot to put on a freshman, but she handles it beautifully.
“Brisson is a long wing player who can step out and shoot for us as well,” Snider added. “Being a freshman, she has an extremely high basketball IQ and really understands what we are trying to accomplish defensively. As she grows and continues to get stronger, she will be an excellent player for us for years to come.”
Despite the recent success, Snider isn’t about to let the program rest on its laurels.
“In my mind, I feel that two years of success are just the building blocks of a strong program,” he said. “When all is said and done here at Glenn, I want schools around this area to aspire to have a girls’ program like we have built. The goal here is to build a program built on certain principles that are set in stone and be able to look back and say we did it the right way. I think our girls have bought into that and are ready to do start their own chapter of John Glenn girls’ basketball.”
Since the Bobcats are an independent team, a conference championship isn’t in the cards for them, but that isn’t keeping them from staying focused.
“We want to continue to get better every day,” Snider said. “That is really the only goal for us is to be playing our best basketball by the time the tournament rolls around. We think that if that happens, there is no reason why we can’t make a deep run in the playoffs. Postseason success, we feel, is vital to the development of the program.”
The Lady Bobcats have only won two district titles in the program’s history, with the last coming in 1991. Snider believes the drought can come to an end this year.
“The last two years we have made it to the district championship and lost to Frankenmuth,” Snider said. “We set a few team goals this year, but the one island that we are focused on rowing to is a district championship. The girls set this as our main goal for the season.”