By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Chapman girls basketball team will tip-off their 2021-22 season with an area rivalry game as they get set to host the Sacred Heart Knights.
The Knights opened their season at Ell-Saline where they fell to the Cardinals in a 40-38 heartbreaker.
As for Chapman, the team is thrilled for a chance to end preseason practices and return to the game court.
“We’re very excited to get back on the floor after a long offseason,” first-year Irish head coach Michael Wahlmeier said. “Last year was so disjointed and we’re looking forward to a much more normal season.”
The Knights and Irish met late last season what quickly became a dominant win for Sacred Heart by a final of 62-38.
“For us, these games are a good barometer of what we currently need to work on,” Wahlmeier said. “It’s our first game of the season so we need to focus on us and on the things that we can control.”
In the practices leading up to the season opener, the Irish have worked tirelessly on taking care of the basketball, and tightening the clamps on opposing offenses.
“We want to be able to rely on our defense this year,” he said. “We’ve focused a lot of time and energy on that end of the floor as well as limiting turnovers.”
As for Sacred Heart, they will be in search of another big performance from Katie Weiss, who dropped 21 points to lead all scorers in the loss to Ell-Saline.
This game represents a great opportunity for the Knights to right the ship as head coach Carl Hines looks to collect the first win of his debut season with Sacred Heart.
Chapman may have a slight advantage however in having some film on the Knights without playing a game themselves this year.
“They move really well without the ball, cut hard, and push the ball well in transition,” Wahlmeier said. “If we can keep our turnovers under control I think we have a good shot of winning. They have a height advantage so we need to box out aggressively.”
Tip-off between the Knights and Fighting Irish is scheduled for 6 pm at Chapman High School with the boys game to follow at 7.