By RICHIE HALL
There will be several familiar faces on the Westfield girls basketball team this upcoming season, and that’s a very good thing for the Shamrocks.
That familiar cast of characters had a busy month of basketball during the month of June. Second-year coach Kelsey Key said of her team’s traveling: “We went a little bit all over the place.”
Westfield made a trip up to Indiana Wesleyan University for a team camp, where the ‘Rocks won the Red Bracket tournament. Westfield picked up wins over teams such as Danville and Western at that event. The ‘Rocks also traveled to Ann Arbor to compete in the University of Michigan’s high school shootout.
Closer to home, the Shamrocks participated in the Pacers Athletic Center (PAC) League, “which we’ve done for multiple years,” said Key. They also competed in the Charlie Hughes Shootout, playing two games at Hamilton Southeastern on June 16 and two games at Mount Vernon Middle School on June 17.
Westfield went 3-1 over four games at the Charlie Hughes tournament. The ‘Rocks dropped their opener to South Bend Washington 55-50. The Panthers are coming off a 27-1 season that included a Class 4A regional championship. Westfield swept through its next three games, beating Lake Central 48-35, Penn 44-20 and Valparaiso 59-43.
“We had good spurts and good moments for sure,” said Key. “Obviously we played a lot of games, so that told us a lot. We got a lot of experience for our young players, which was nice.”
Key said there were some teachable moments throughout the month.
“We had a good summer,” said Key. “I think more than anything, you want them to grow as a group,” which the coach said the team did.
Four returning starters
Westfield graduated three seniors, but will have four of its starters returning next season. Leading the way is incoming senior Ellie Kelleher, who was an Indiana Junior All-Star last season. Kelleher was the Shamrocks’ leading scorer as a junior with 11.5 points per game, was first in assists (3.2) and steals (1.7), and second in rebounds at 4.7.
“Ellie’s a very good basketball player,” said Key. “She played on the Junior All-Star team. Ellie played a lot of minutes. She played well for us this summer. She is a very fun kid to coach, because outside of basketball, she’s just a great kid.”
Two prominent juniors-to-be are also returning. Aubrey Crockett was Westfield’s leading rebounder as a sophomore (5.1 per game); Key said Crockett “was our point guard all of the summer.” Also back is Lindsey Van Dyke, who Key calls a “high-level defender.”
“She always gets everyone’s hardest match-up, their best guard every night,” said Key.
Kiki Loveless returns as a senior after a solid junior season (3.6 rebounds, 3.5 points). Another returning senior is Reagan Lorenzen, who scored 3.9 points per game last year.
Several younger players will be stepping up as well. That includes incoming junior Sam Price, and sophomore-to-be Makayla Hatcher, who played 13 games for the Shamrocks as a freshman.
“They’re going to be new to their roles for us,” said Key.
Once the summer high school season ended, the players headed off to their AAU teams for the July season. Key said AAU is a “good experience” for the players, as they play very high-level competition, although it does mean quite a bit of traveling.
“I’m thankful that we have the PAC and things that are close,” said Key.
After that, things quiet down once school begins, and the players focus on conditioning for the high school winter season. Key said once the calendar hits August, it will be time for them to “recover and regroup,” and head to the gym for lifting.
“We’re blessed, we have an incredible situation at Westfield with strength and conditioning with Coach Tavio and his wisdom,” said Key. “He’ll put them to work.”