By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After a solid start to their 2022-23 campaign, the Salina Central girl’s basketball team will open the new year with a league matchup against Goddard-Eisenhower in Salina.
The Lady Mustangs will come into this contest at 4-2 while the Lady Tigers enter at 4-1, their lone loss coming at the hands of 5-1 Andover.
Despite seeing a lot of turnover in the offseason, last year’s 5A state runners-up got back on track with breakneck speed, winning three of their last four down the December stretch.
“We are off to a good start despite five new starters,” Central head coach Chris Fear said. “I'm really pleased with the effort that we put forth and the progress that we made with a very inexperienced team.”
With the speed of the game under their belts, the Lady Mustangs will look to get even more comfortable as the new year unfolds, in an effort to peak at the right time down the home stretch of their season.
“We have worked very hard at handling defensive pressure and getting into our offense a little quicker,” Fear said. “We have taken too many quick or forced shots and we need to get some more open looks.”
Central’s schedule won’t give them a reprieve any time soon, and a Friday contest with Eisenhower will be no different as the Lady Mustangs prepare for a Tiger team that presents some matchup problems in the paint.
“They want to throw the ball inside,” he said. “We’re undersized so playing against teams that have good inside players is a big challenge for us. Eisenhower also has some players who can shoot the ball from the three-point line so we’ll need to use our quickness and try to speed them up.”
To have success on the defensive end, the Lady Mustangs will have to find an answer for Carly Dameron and Addison Verbeck, who have combined to average 21 points per game, giving opponents fits this season.
“Verbeck is a huge key to the game,” Fear said. “She hurt us as a freshman. We have done a good job against her in recent games but she is very capable of shooting the ball from the perimeter. Dameron is a force at 6-2, that's going to be an issue for us with her size. We need to take away what we can and then battle as hard as we can against their size advantage.”
On the other side of the ball making the most of every possession and creating chaos will be the name of the game for a Central squad that has seen steady improvement this season.
“We need to be efficient on offense and take advantage of the opportunities that we get in transition,” he said. “Turnovers are going to be critical, we need to force Eisenhower into turnovers and make them uncomfortable on the offensive end.”
Tip-off between the Lady Mustangs and Tigers is set for 6:30 pm at Central High School with the boy's game to follow at 7:00.
For continuing coverage of Mustang and Lady Mustang hoops, stay tuned to the Salina Post.