2002-03 SCHEDULE

Nov. 30 -- West Middlesex Dec. 2 -- at Sharon Dec. 7 -- at Lakeview Dec. 9 -- Grove City Dec. 14 -- Conneaut Lake Dec. 16 -- Hickory Dec. 19 -- Sharon Dec. 20 -- at Slippery Rock Dec. 27-28 -- Cochranton tourney Jan. 3 -- at Grove City Jan. 6 -- at Sharpsville* Jan. 9 -- at Wilmington* Jan. 13 -- Commodore Perry Jan. 17 -- Mercer* Jan. 20 -- Slippery Rock Jan. 23 -- Reynolds* Jan. 27 -- at Hickory Jan. 30 -- Wilmington* Feb. 3 -- Sharpsville* Feb. 6 -- at Mercer* Feb. 10 -- at West Middlesex Feb. 13 -- at Reynolds.*    #=MCAC-AA contest

By The Herald Sports Staff

If the Greenville High girls basketball team is to enjoy a successful 2002-03 season, its going to have to win with youth.

After losing seven seniors to graduation from last season's 10-14 squad, the Lady Trojans of second-year coach Mike Murray are a young, inexperienced bunch. Although he is aware he may have a significantly more difficult task ahead than with last year's veteran-laden team, Murray remains optimistic that his young club will be ready for success this season.

"I'm sure it will be tougher, but they have great attitudes and they're hard workers," Murray said of his team's personality. "I'm mainly concerned that you be passionate about what you're doing -- I'm passionate about this, and I think they are, too."

Murray's hard-working troops does have their work cut out for them, however. Gone with the veteran presence of the departed seniors is the bulk of Greenville's scoring punch.

"We don't have a lot of points coming back, but we do have three seniors this year," Murray said of upperclassmen Erin Landfried (5-foot-7 forward), Amanda Shannon (5-4 guard) and Jaci Goehring (5-6 forward). Murray said that Goehring, one of three returning letterwinners along with Landfried and sophomore point guard Rachael Cascio, is probably the Lady Trojans' most experienced player.

Murray added that while Laura Ryhal handled the bulk of the point production last season, this year's edition of Greenville's girls hoops will likely feature a scoring by committee approach. "We had (Ryhal) who scored almost 400 points for us (in 2001-02), and I'm thinking we can make that up with three girls this year," Murray explained, also revealing that he plans to use his bench extensively. "We haven't set a starting lineup yet, but we'll probably rotate (the starting unit) a lot and go eight or nine deep."

With the bench being counted upon to play significant minutes, a number of young players will be counted on for big contributions, including frontcourt players 5-9 junior Megan Szewczyk and 5-7 sophomore Kristin Skelley (5-7). Adding depth for the Lady Trojans will be juniors Ashley Williams (5-5 forward) and Amanda Leonard (5-4 forward); sophomores Allyson Blaschak (5-6 forward) and Lauren Kremm (5-5 point guard), and freshman Liz McCurdy (5-5 forward).

Murray cited the experience that this year's team gained while together on the junior varsity squad a year ago and playing in summer leagues as reason to be optimistic for their promise as a varsity unit. "They were a solid JV team and won 16 games last year," he related. "They worked extremely hard over the summer, and between camps and the Hickory league played 40 games this summer -- that experience should be important because you hope that it will benefit a young team like this down the road.

"We're hoping to improve with each practice and game," Murray continued, adding that his team's annual goal is an MCAC-AA championship and a postseason appearance. And that the Lady Trojans hope to open things up with solid outside shooting and team speed.

"We don't have a lot of size, so on defense we'll have to extend our man-to-man a little to keep the ball out of the post," Murray explained. "Offensively, we're going to try to spread the floor -- if you're going to be small, you better not be slow."

The Lady Trojans' emphasis on youth extends throughout the Greenville girls basketball program, as this season will mark the first 9th-grade girls team in school history.

Murray hopes that the move will boost interest in Greenville girls basketball by providing increased opportunity to get on the court.

"We're hoping that it will keep kids interested by giving them an opportunity to get some minutes," he said, adding that the chance to play more should alleviate the frustration freshmen often feel while spending extended time on the bench.

Note: Gary Hull will head up the fledgling 9th-grade program, while Fred Kiser assumes junior varsity duties for Murray. Greenville's staff also includes volunteers Pam McCormick, Jeff Seckler and Jean Pfaff, while Murray's daughter Molly handles the junior high team.