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St. Joseph girls basketball preview
MELISSA HOLLINGSHED
St. Joseph Chargers
Coach: Jim Maley
2011-12: 23-11 overall, 4-3 GCAC Red (lost in Class 3A sectional semifinal)
Returning starters: 3
Updated: November 27, 2012 9:54AM
Who is the team’s best defender?
DEJA HORN: “She was our defensive player of the year in her first two seasons,” St. Joseph coach Jim Maley said of the junior. “She is relentless.” The Chargers allowed 60 or more points in a game only four times last season. When the Chargers were eliminated by Marshall 58-52 in the Glenbard South Sectional, it marked their most points allowed since suffering a 60-25 loss to St. Ignatius in the GCAC tournament.
Who works the hardest in practice?
MELISSA HOLLINGSHED: The former reserve should have a bigger role in her senior season. “She is a very hard worker in practice,” Maley said. “Our whole second team is the best I have had in recent years as far as making the first group work hard in practice for every basket. This should serve us well when we face the opposition.”
Who is the team’s funniest player?
CHANEL BROWN: “(The junior) is the team comic,” Maley said. “She keeps everyone loose.” Brown, a 5-foot-9 guard-forward, is a returning starter who has scored 301 points in her career and averaged 5.2 rebounds per game last season.
Who takes the potential game-winner?
NO NAME: “I’m not going to answer that, but I will be anxiously reading the answers of any coach who we will be playing this year,” Maley said. Shaakera Jones, a 6-foot-1 senior center, is one of the top returning starters after scoring 192 points last season and gathering 5.2 rebounds per game. “A year of experience should cause Shaakera to be a force to be reckoned with in the paint,” Maley said.
— George M. Wilcox
