By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Sacred Heart girl’s basketball team will head into the final three weeks of the regular season at 5-9, after starting .500 but falling in five of their last six games.
The Lady Knights have faced a gauntlet in their last six games, taking on teams like #4 Little River, #8 SES, and #9 Hays TMP.
Those losses have taught a young Sacred Heart team a number of lessons as they continue to develop under first-year head coach Carl Hines.
“The best thing I have seen so far this season is our overall growth as a team,” he said. “We are becoming more disciplined with each passing day.”
The Lady Knights have been led this season by Katie Weiss, who has averaged double-digit scoring to go along with team-leading numbers in steals and assists.
Weiss isn’t the only player to step up big for Sacred Heart this season, as a mixture of veterans and newcomers have become more and more comfortable on the varsity floor.
“Katie is learning and growing on the offensive end to become a more complete player,” Hines said. “All of our girls have improved tremendously. Avery Eshelman is growing as an inside presence and Maddie Erhlich is becoming a defensive force.”
The next step for the Lady Knights will be in finding ways to battle with those top teams in addition to handling the ones they find themselves favored to beat.
“I want to continue to see us become more disciplined and learn about the game,” he said. “We are looking to improve our situational awareness within the game itself.”
Sacred Heart’s schedule will become much more forgiving in the final weeks of February as the Lady Knights take on just two more squads (Council Grove and Beloit) with winning records before sub-state.
The more favorable matchups should present the Knights with an opportunity to gain a head of steam ahead of postseason play.
“As for what we can accomplish I don't want to get ahead of myself,” Hines said. “We take each game one at a time. The next game is always the most important, but I feel that we can make a heck of a run if we can continue to put things together.”
Sacred Heart will be back in action on Tuesday when the team travels to Victoria for a matchup with the 5-10 Knights.
For continuing coverage of both Sacred Heart basketball teams in 2022 stay tuned to the Salina Post.