'99-00 SCHEDULE

Dec. 3 -- at Linesville       6 -- at Conneaut Lake       9 -- at Kennedy Christian       13 -- Mercer       15 -- at Farrell       20 -- Sharpsville       23 -- Meadville       28 -- Christmas Tournament       29 -- Christmas Tournament Jan. 3 -- Greenville       6 -- Kennedy Christian       10 -- at Mercer       13 -- at Sharpsville       17 -- at Greenville       24 -- A.C. Valley Feb. 3 -- at West Middlesex       11 -- at Meadville       15 -- at Clarion       21 -- West Middlesex.

By The Herald Sports Staff

Basketball is in the blood of the Cascio family. Commodore Perry head coach Jennifer (Cascio) Fagley was once a standout for Kennedy Christian under the coaching of her father John Cascio.

Now, in Fagley's third year at the helm for the Lady Panthers, her father is back only this time as her assistant.

"He (Cascio) was my coach when in high school when I played at Kennedy and he helped my sister out when she was at Reynolds," said Fagley. "He's been with the game for a long time. He came to our games last year, saw some things, and knew that we had a good group and I needed another assistant, so ..."

So, the daughter-father team now has the responsibility of continuing Commodore Perry's trip to the top of its game.

When asked if there was any pressure working with her father Fagley replied: "Pressure? On me? Heck no, I'm the boss. No. No problems. He knows more then me. I'm still learning from him. No pressure."

"I told her, ŒIt's your show, you make the decisions and I'm just here to help out'" said Cascio.

"I'm real proud," Cascio continued. "It's pretty interesting to be working with her. I know what she wants and how her system works, I'm just there to take care of the fundamentals, the X's and O's are hers."

The Lady Panthers had a promising 9-15 season last year in which they drove for the title in Class A, which they shared with West Middlesex.

"Nine-and-15 is not too bad at all," said Fagley. "We had a lot of injuries, we had to keep a couple of girls out because of some discipline problems. It was kind of a tough season, but the girls that really wanted to contribute and work did."

Coach Fagley credits the team's turnaround to their performance in the 1997-98 campaign.

"That was our biggest improvement," she said, "because when I came we were something like 1-18 so we had to do something to boost the girls' morale. We made the playoffs that year too but, of course, you're going to make it if there are only two or three teams in single-A."

Fagley will get an early gauge on her team's makeup after starting with three difficult road games.

"We start out with Linesville, Conneaut Lake and Kennedy all on the road, so it's going to swallow us up right off the bat," Fagley said. "But I think they will hold their own, especially when we get deeper into the season."

Once again the Lady Panthers have their sights trained on West Middlesex.

Aiding the Lady Panthers on their quest will be a host of seniors and lettermen, led by last year's points leader Shannon Lackey, who ended the season with 253 points, an average of 11 points per game.

Lackey, a 5-7 shooting guard, spent the summer in Hawaii at a basketball invitational. Of the 4,000 players that applied, only 200 were chosen. Among them was Lackey whose 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 teams won.

"She had a really good year last year," said Fagley. "We're hoping that she can contribute even more this year. I'm looking for her to be a good leader."

Also highlighted by Fagley was senior Crystal Keck, a 5-9 swingman who was the team's third highest scorer with 130. "I'm looking for her to be a big contributor underneath this year with her size and strength," said Fagley.

Senior Shannon Bowser (5-10) will lay out some big contributions. Bowser didn't play last year after having knee surgery.

Another senior, 5-8 Christy Williams, will again take up the point. Fagley said, "I expect a lot out of her, but I expect a lot out of all of my girls this year but I think the point guard must be the leader."

Also earning a start is sophomore Tina Ramer who is a 5-7 guard.

Looking to contribute is 5-9 senior swingman Fawn Patterson and a trio of juniors peaked by 5-11 forward Mimi Schafer, with guards Sarah Wilson and Ashley Fairlamb at 5-2 and 5-3, respectively.

"We're not looking for the slow-it-up offense this year, we're going to use our speed and try to get some fast breaks going," said Fagley

She added, "We've got strength, and we've got speed but it's kind of a small group of girls but I guess size doesn't matter, it's who wants it more."