In his first year at the helm of the Brownstown Central girls basketball program, coach Brandon Allman is hoping his girls will be able to pace teams up and down the court.
Behind a mix of experienced and fresh-faced talent, the Braves hope to challenge for their first sectional title since 2011 when they made it all the way to the state title game.
The Braves bring back a host of returning players, including last year’s top three scorers in Katherine Benter, Ashley Schroer and Halle Hehman. Each scored at least 10 points a game last year with Benter leading them all (11.2 ppg).
That trio stands to be the group Allman turns to for points on a nightly basis.
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“Offensively, we’re going to run more sets. I’m a firm believer in trying to get your best players the basketball and in positions to score," he said. "In the past, we’ve been more of an equal opportunity offense."
However, that doesn’t mean he won’t spread the ball around.
"All the girls on our team are going to get shots, but we’re going to focus on getting our best players shots and putting them in the best chance to score," he continued.
Freshman Maddie Hackman also is someone expected to contribute big points in addition to Benter, Hehman and Schroer.
During their Nov. 5 scrimmage, Hackman spotted up for several long balls and made the Columbus North Bull Dogs pay for giving her too much space.
“Those are our main three scorers, and then we’ve got a freshman Maddie Hackman, who really came in and got us going," Allman said. "She’s a girl who knows how to put the ball in the hole, and she’s going to complement the other three that teams are going to be gunning for.”
She’ll see the ball a lot, especially if she can replicate what she did against the Bull Dogs.
“If she’s feeling it, she can shoot almost as well as any girl I’ve ever seen,” Allman said.
A lot of those open looks, though, came on the heels of some pressure defense from the Braves.
Forcing Columbus North into some sloppy sets and easy turnovers allowed them to outpace the Bull Dogs and get some easy looks.
Though they’ll have some experience to draw on, being able to get easy opportunities is going to be key for a Braves team that will be breaking in some underclass players this year.
“I don’t know how deep we are at the moment, but we’re going to play up-tempo basketball,” Allman said.
He said the scrimmage against another team was a good teaching tool for his girls. After spending so many months practicing against each other, it was good for him to get to see how his girls responded.
“I was just ready to see the girls get some other competition," he said. "We’ve had a lot of scrimmages where we’re beating up on each other, and it was good to see them play against some other teams.
"It was good to see how we react to different stuff and some things the girls haven’t seen before. We struggled, but we made a lot of adjustments. They have a lot of length on the court, and that’s something we don’t have.”