Ben Murphy
Sports Scene
The Buena Vista girls basketball team is quickly putting a forgettable 2011-12 season in the rear view mirror. The Lady Knights, who went 2-19 last year, are at 6-5 as of January 25 and sit at second place in the Summit Conference with a 2-1 league mark.
“Saginaw Arts and Science Academy is leading the conference right now, but we still have a chance to win it,” first-year head coach Alton Sanders said. “We are going to make a good push for it coming up in the next week or so.”
Sanders, who previously coached in Saginaw High’s program, has relied on senior Natriona Moore, sophomore Briona McKenzie, and Alex Carter.
“Moore has been a great asset to us,” Sanders said. “She’s been leading us in all categories – scoring, assists, and steals. She even gets up there and rebounds with the bigs, even though she’s so little. McKenzie is the second-leading scorer on the team; she’s an outside threat, and when she’s on, she’s on. Carter, she does a great job leading us on the floor. If we need somebody to shut someone down, we just put her on them.”
The coach claims to have kept things simple in achieving the quick turnaround for the team, noting that coaches have come and gone quickly in the past.
“I didn’t really see them last year, so when I came in and got the job it was just me showing that I care and building a bond with them and trust,” Sanders said. “These are kids that want to succeed in life and [I stress to them] that if we are going to get it done, we all have to be on the same page.”
Sanders added that he hopes his team can stay on one page long enough to accomplish the team goals.
“We have a set of goals – our first goal is to win the conference,” he said. “We’ve been playing really well in the conference and we’re looking to win it; I don’t see it going any other way, that’s the confidence I have in my team. When we lace up our shoes, I tell my girls we are no different than the team we’re playing against, it just comes down to who wants it more and who is going to play the hardest. When the tournament comes around, hopefully we’ll be able to put everything together to make a run as far as we can.”