Four starters are back for Pratt’s Lady Rangers

Roland must replace All-Stater Racheal Watie this season but with the return of four starters and other experienced players head coach Greg Pratt is optimistic about the upcoming season.

“I believe that if we’ll continue to really work on some of our weaknesses then we have a chance to make some significant strides and maybe surprise some people and be a whole lot better than maybe our opponents want us to be this year,” said Pratt, who is beginning his sixth season as the Roland head coach.

“This group didn’t shoot the ball particularly well last year and some of that might have been some inexperience and having to shoot shots in pressure moments in a varsity game, but I’m hoping that our shooting improves this year. It’s an area that we really need to improve on and it hurt us come playoff time, I felt like. We’ve just got to be a little bit more effective shooting the ball and we’ve got to cut down on some turnovers. Those go hand in hand right there on offense.

“I do think that there’s a potential to be better than what people may believe. While we are young on paper those girls got a ton of experience last year. We have one senior (Madison Jetton) and she played part of the year and tore her knee up, but pretty much the rest of them got minutes. They played in some tough games and some big games so I’m hoping maybe we can get over a little bit of the jitters and maybe know a little bit more about what to do and how to handle those situations. Last year we leaned on Rachael in those spots. She’s gone so somebody else has to do it now. Somebody else is going to have to step up or multiple people are going to have to step up and be able to shoulder more of that load and take responsibility in some situations to help get the team organized and calmed down.”

Watie is now playing collegiate basketball at Connors State College in Warner.

The Lady Rangers (16-10 overall) were ranked No. 13 in Class 3A last season and Roland finished second in the Choctaw Nation Invitational and Sequoyah County tournaments and third in the Fort Gibson Tournament. After receiving a district tournament bye the Lady Rangers lost to fourth-ranked Idabel in their regional final before beating Cascia Hall in the area consolation quarterfinals. A loss to No. 7 Kiefer in the area consolation semifinals ended Roland’s season.

Seth Roberts will assist Pratt this season.

“Really glad to have coach Roberts on board,” said Pratt. “His knowledge, especially on offense, is through the roof. He’s played some very high-level basketball, college and then beyond college and he’s done some things and been around some big-time basketball. I’ve turned him loose with the guards and for him to have a role with that.

“He’s got a great demeanor about him. He’s pretty positive but he’s not a yeller. He coaches the girls. The team seems to really like him and it’s a great atmosphere in the gym. Our atmosphere to me is probably the best it’s ever been since I’ve been here, to be honest.”

Team Leadership

“One thing that I try to tell them is everybody can lead in their own separate ways,” Pratt said. “You don’t necessarily have to have the one sole leader. Some people are just a great teammate in practice and always encouraging. Somebody may lead because they’re always going hard in practice. Somebody may lead because they’re always diving on the floor and taking charges. Everybody can lead in their own specific way so I think it’s more of a group, collaborative effort and whatever your role is be the best at it and embrace it.”

Seniors Guard Madison Jetton (5-3) is Roland’s lone senior this season.

“Madi is coming back from knee injury,” said Pratt. “She hasn’t been released very long so she is still working her way back. It’s just a process and she’ll get better and that leg’s got to get stronger with each day so hopefully by the time second semester hits she’s kind of got her feet back under her and getting close to maybe what she was last year. Her biggest assets were her speed and quickness and that’s taken a little bit of a hit but again it’s a work in progress to get that back.”

Juniors

Roland’s juniors are guard Addison Cole (5-3), forward Lilly Medicine Bird (5-11), guard Kynlei Earnhart (5-4) and forwards Brooklyn Hallbauer (5-10) and Riscay Campbell (5-9) and guard Jazlynn Tehee (5-5).

“Addison Cole is a returning starter and was first team NOAA last year as a sophomore,” remarked Pratt. “She’s somebody that’s a high-motor player and she’s a two-way player because she’s going to play great defense. Led the team in charges, she took 24 of them last year. She’s somebody that’s going to have to take a little bigger role, which I don’t think that that bothers her at all. Instead of it being her and Racheal both handling the ball it’s going to be probably be more of her and Haven (Freeman) handling the ball but she’ll have it a lot in her hands at those critical times. For her to make first team All-Conference in her first year of varsity I thought was a great honor and hopefully she can build on that and make improvements her junior year.

“Lilly Medicine Bird is another returning starter. Lilly just has a high motor. She goes hard all the time. She is a great rebounder and in 24 games last year she had over 80 offensive rebounds. We’re hoping that she takes on a little bit bigger of a scoring role this year and we need her to be able to contribute a little bit more and she’s capable of it. She’s a good athlete. She’s tall, she’s rangy, high motor and she’s fun to coach because you don’t ever really have to say much to her about her work ethic.

“Kynlei Earnhart is pretty much a returning starter but there were times that she came off the bench. Kynlei is a great communicator on the floor. She goes hard. You never have to worry about her competing. She’s going to be in the right spot on defense and she understands what we do defensively. She’s somebody we need to shoot it better this year and we need her to hit it at a higher percentage than what we she did last year. She’s shot the ball really well in practice up to this point. Kynlei spends time in the gym and she’s going to work at it.

“Brooklyn Hallbauer started some last year. Brooklyn is another person that needs to make some strides and improve and so far we’ve been seeing that. She’s finishing better at the basket and just more confident. She works hard, she’s a tremendous athlete and she’s somebody that rarely ever gets tired. That’s just the way that she is. She’s somebody, again, that we need to contribute a little bit more on offense and be a little bit more involved.

“Riscay Campbell moved back this year. She’s a good-sized girl. She finishes well at the basket and is deceivingly athletic. She hasn’t played in a couple of years and we’ve just got to get her back into basketball shape and understanding the scheme and the things that we do. I’m hoping that she continues to work and as she gets a little more comfortable with what we do she’s got an opportunity to insert herself into the rotation based on what we’ve seen so far. We’re glad to have her back.

“Jaz Tehee is a good athlete. She’s a good defender, she’s a solid shooter, she’s a solid ball handler but she’s just inexperienced. If she will ever get confidence in herself she can turn herself into a really good player. She’s going to play minutes. I think there’s an opportunity there for it to be a pretty large role or just kind of a regular role. The skill set is there, it’s just a matter of getting her the experience and her starting to trust herself a little bit more and not second guessing herself on the floor. Really look forward to getting her out there and she could be a really good player.”

Sophomores

The Lady Rangers’ sophomores are guards Laikyn Conaway (5-3) and Haven Freeman (5-7), forward Julianna Trujillo (5-8), forward Kayleigh Wynn (5-8), guards Brooklyn Decker (5-5) and Madi Whisenant (5-4) and forward Kim Muncy (5-6).

“Laikyn Conaway started a game and played in a few last year,” said Pratt. “Laikyn’s a really good shooter and she’s not very big but she will get in and mix it up. She’ll take charges, she understands the defense and she knows where to be and she’s in the right spot. She’s dependable because you know she’s going to be at practice and she’s dependable knowing most of the time she’s not going to make big blunders. She’s somebody that we need to be a really good shooter and I think that she’s capable of doing it. She puts a lot of time in the gym on her own too.

“Haven Freeman is a returning starter and was the conference newcomer of the year. In the second half of the season she started looking like a different player from the first half. Started kind of finding her footing, her role and adjusting to the speed of the varsity game. Obviously she’s a great athlete and if she will stay aggressive then she is a big-time player. Her and Cole are kind of our two spark plugs on offense, there’s no secret about that. As long as Haven will continue to be aggressive and not second-guess things then she can be a really, really good player. She has been more aggressive and she knows she’s going to have a bigger role this year.

“Julianna Trujillo has got a chance to play some minutes. Julianna is a really good rebounder. We’ve got to get her to improve on some of the little things, especially with her defense, and not being lost, but she’s somebody that’s in the conversation to work herself into some minutes if we can just clean up some things.

“Kayleigh Wynn, Brooklyn Decker, Madi Whisenant and Kim Muncy are also sophomores.”

Schedule

New to the Lady Rangers’ schedule this season are non-conference games against Sequoyah-Tahlequah.

“We dropped Idabel and got Sequoyah in there,” Pratt said. “Everybody’s sick and tired making those Idabel trips.

“Our schedule is tough. You’ve got Muldrow that’s got pretty much everybody back and they were in the area finals and lost two in a row. You’ve got Stilwell that’s got everybody back and they went to the state tournament and Sequoyah, a state tournament team in 3A last year, who has everybody back and then whoever else they got in. Poteau’s somebody that’s got everybody back so those are teams right off the top of my head that I know that bring back the majority of their starters.

“Our tournaments are tough. We go to the Choctaw Invitational Tournament at Talihina and you’ve got Howe and Pocola in it that I know of for sure. We all know what the county tournament is and then we go to the Fort Gibson Tournament.

“I think our schedule’s tough and it should prepare us for playoff time or at least that’s my hope. We could easily be going into playoff time hovering around .500 with our schedule. It depends on how things break for us, how we improve and play but we will certainly be tested throughout the year. There’s not any gimmes on our schedule, even from teams that I haven’t mentioned. You’ve got to go play.”

Roland was scheduled to start its season at Checotah on Nov. 29 and the Lady Rangers played at Muldrow on Dec. 2.