Oran girls basketball team begins season with plenty of depth

The depth Ethan Evans was missing last year has arrived, although the Eagles made do quite well with 14 wins and a district title in his third year at the helm.

It was the second straight district crown for Oran, which dropped down to Class 1 and navigated the four-team field in District 2.

The Eagles lost two starters from last year's team, including their leading scorer and rebounder in small forward Allison Cummins, but they return eight players -- about two-thirds of their offensive production -- and should get some help from two talented freshmen.

"I think our strength this year is going to be depth; I know last year we played six, and that was it, "Evans said. "This year we can probably play up to 10 and not see too much of a dropoff. We've got some pretty decent size, especially for a Class 1 school."

The six-player rotation last year forced Evans to alter his aggressive style of play that he prefers, a style which helped the Eagles to an 18-6 record and a Class 2 district title in his second season at the helm.

"The fact that we won 14 games last year kind of surprised me, but we had to play a different style than what we had the year before, where we pushed it, full-court pressure and just run-and-gun the whole game," Evans said. "Last year was more of a defensive effort, and the girls bought into that, and I'm hoping that kind of carries into this year and we can play more of the faster style as well."

The Eagles return two all-district, three-year starters in 5-foot-9 senior Ashlyn McIntosh and 5-10 forward Tatum May.

McIntosh supplied 10.6 points per game -- second on the team -- while averaging 7.1 rebounds in collecting all-conference honors.

"She can also step out and play some three-spot for us as well," Evans said.

May will transition to the front court after serving as point guard last year, where she still was able to help on the boards with 4.4 rebounds per game.

"We've got a pretty talented group coming up that we're looking to get a lot of production out of," Evans said.

Freeing May up from the point-guard duties will be 5-7 freshman Leah Cauble. Also ascending to the varsity level is 5-10 freshman Jesse Long, who Evans said averaged around 14 points on the eighth-grade team last year and will likely start in the post.

"Based upon what we did this summer, it looks like she's going to be pushing for that spot," Evans said.

The Eagles also have a returning starter in senior forward Hannah Scherer, who led the Eagles with nine points in their sectional loss to Naylor, and junior shooting guard Brianna Stause, who was the first person off the bench in last year's six-player rotation.

"I think we'll be able to shoot the ball well from the outside and also be able to pound the ball inside when we need to as well," Evans said.

He foresees two possible lineups for this year's team, with one oriented toward half-court defense and the other applying full-court pressure.

"We're going to look to push it, because with our bigger girls, especially Ashyln and Tatum, they had to run a ton of guard last year and help bring the ball up the floor, so even though they're bigger, we're going to be able to use them to push the ball along with our point guard."

Players to watch

Freshman Leah Cauble, the daughter of Eagles assistant coach Dustin Cauble, is expected to take over the point-guard duties and provide offense in the process. Evans said Cauble averaged around 28 points a game on the school's eighth-grade team last year.

"She can shoot the 3 pretty good and she does a good job of using both hands," Evans said. "[Dustin Cauble] puts her through a ton of stuff."

Cauble's insertion at point guard will upgrade the Eagles' overall ball-handling, and allow the 5-10 Tatum May, a good ball-handler who averaged 8 ppg, to be used more under the basket and contribute more on offense.

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Class 1 District 2

Conference

Scott-Mississippi

Head coach

Ethan Evans

(4th year)

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ROSTER

No. Player Pos. Year

10 MacKenzie Graviett F 10

11 Katelyn Streeter G 9

12 Brianna Stause G 11

13 Tatum May F 12

14 Shiloh Kirn G 12

15 Ashlyn McIntosh F 12

30 Megan Henson F 9

31 Madison Ramsey G 9

32 Leah Cauble G 9

33 Jessie Long C 9

34 Hannah Scherer F 12

35 Claire Ramsey G 9

40 Madison Graviett G 10

50 Erin Schlitt F 12

STARTERS GONE

Allison Cummins

Kaylen Glastetter

STARTERS BACK

Ashlyn McIntosh

Tatum May

Hannah Scherer

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SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time

11/23 Malden 7:30 p.m.

11/24 @Scott Co. Central 7:30 p.m.

12/7 Lady Devil Invitational

12/14 @New Madrid CC 7:30 p.m.

12/17 South Pemiscot 7:30 p.m.

1/4 Delta New Years Inv. Tourn.

1/11 Scott-Mississippi Conf. Tourn.

1/18 Saxony Lutheran 7:30 p.m.

1/21 Delta 6 p.m.

1/23 @Twin Rivers 2:30 p.m.

1/25 @Meadow Heights 7:30 p.m.

1/26 Chaffee 7:30 p.m.

1/28 Kelly 7:30 p.m.

2/1 @Greenville 7:30 p.m.

2/4 Charleston 7:30 p.m.

2/8 Woodland 7:30 p.m.

2/11 @East Prairie 7:30 p.m.

2/15 St. Vincent 7:30 p.m.

2/18 @Scott City 7:30 p.m.

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LAST SEASON

LEADERS

Points: Allison Cummins (12.6 ppg)

Rebounds: Cummins (8.4 rpg)

Assists: Cummins (2.6 apg)

RECORD

14-11