Head Coach Lynsey Barnard is entering her fourth season as head coach of the Little Hawk girls’ basketball team. Last year, the Little Hawks had a winning record of 16-8, falling short in the state qualifier to cross town rival Liberty. The Little Hawks lost two key players after last season, graduating seniors August Palmer and Emmy McComas. Palmer led the team in points while McComas led in rebounds. Coach Barnard feels that though the team lost key players, the overall style of play will not change drastically.
“We are going to replace two people with a team mentality, and I think we have a lot of weapons to do that,” Barnard said.
The Little Hawks are returning three starters, and Barnard discussed the potential that she believes her roster has.
“Loria has improved an insane amount, Driscoll will have a lot of pressure off after her commitment, and I’ve been super impressed with their growth over the summer,” Barnard said.
The girls’ basketball team will also bring in two freshmen who Coach Barnard expects to have a significant impact on the team’s overall success.
“We didn’t even know they were gonna really go out. They’ve just been awesome in terms of what we want out of teammates and also what we want out of basketball players. They’ve got great attitudes, and they are willing to work hard,” said Barnard when talking about the two new freshmen guards, Maddie Fraga ‘29 and Audrey Howe ‘29.
Coach Barnard’s roster has already taken a hit with the loss of starter Eve Vitense ‘28. Vitense made an impact on the varsity floor during her freshmen season last year, with her constant defensive effort and deep range. Vitense suffered an avulsion fracture on the inner base of her thumb in late October.
“I’m gonna do my physical therapy, get my left hand ready and boom, I’ll be back before the season ends,” Vitense said with a smile.
Barnard discussed how she will have to pivot from a coaching standpoint.
“You have to invest in everybody who’s in your program, not just the top five. After last year, we had a few injuries, and I think that shifted my mentality a little bit to make sure that we’re still investing in not only the top five, but six and seven as well,” Barnard said.
Coach Barnard also mentioned how versatile her team is this year.
“The unique thing is that we have a lot of people who can do a lot of different roles, what we’re asking them to do at any given time might change,” Barnard said.
Senior Halle Larew spoke about her thoughts towards the upcoming season.
“I’m very excited. I know me and the other seniors have a lot of good expectations that we are looking for this season. Our goal this season is to stay positive throughout the whole season,” Larew said.
Overall, Coach Barnard feels that her goal this year is to invest in everyone.
“From varsity to JV two, you have to invest in literally everyone because you have no idea what’s going to happen on any given day,” Barnard said.Injuries are going to happen, conflicts are going to happen. So just making sure that everybody continues to get after it is important.”
