Injuries complicate preseason for MCS

Effort still strong, says first-year coach Wendy Ivey.

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By John Bombatch, Staff Writer 1:58 AM Friday, November 25, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — The most common opponent the Middletown Christian girls basketball team has faced during the preseason is injuries , but first-year coach Wendy Ivey says that hasn’t stopped her team’s enthusiasm and effort.

“Sometimes the challenging things are our numbers,” said Ivey, who coached the junior varsity last season at MCS.

“We haven’t been completely healthy since the beginning of the season. Usually in practice, we’re down to 6 or 7. That hurts when we’re trying to run our offenses and we’re playing against a defense. We’ve had a couple scrimmages and that has helped.”

Ivey said her players learned a lot about themselves in recent scrimmages against Twin Valley South and Cincinnati Hughes.

Senior Rachel Spahr is the Eagles’ lone returning starter. She led the team in free-throw percentage last season (26 of 46, 61 percent).

Opposing coaches might be safe in telling their players just to “Cover Spahr.” That’s because there could be three of them on the court this season. Rachel is joined by her twin sister, Kaitlyn, and they’ll be joined by younger sister Rebeccah.

“She does have capability to be a starter for us,” Ivey said of the youngest Spahr sibling on the team.

“Ball handling, shooting, quickness, she gives me 100 percent, and she has great court awareness. I’m looking at her doing some great things this year.”

Kaitlyn Spahr (foot), Mackenzie Crout (knee), Catie Burton (foot) and Allie Burton (knee) are all battling back from injuries.

“I really have to commend the girls for their hard work. I have not heard one complaint, and we’ve done a lot of conditioning exercises this preseason,” Ivey said.

“They’re a team of players that you would want on your team, just because of their team unity and how they push each other. It’s something I’ve always wanted with a team.”

The Eagles will get plenty of help from Cheyenne Oren, Alyssa Richardson and Megan Jones. Those players are coming up from last season’s JV squad, so they’ll be familiar with Ivey’s coaching style.

The Eagles finished with an 8-13 overall mark and were 5-7 in the Metro Buckeye Conference last season. Ivey expects a better season in 2011-12. .

“They really want to go far this year, and they know that they have the potential to do that. I as a coach believe in them, and I want to make sure that they know that I believe in them. God has a good plan for them this year, and I’m excited about it,” Ivey said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.

Roster

Player Pos. Ht. Yr.

Rachel Spahr G/F 5-7 Sr.

Kaitlyn Spahr G 5-4 Sr.

Mackenzie Crout F 5-7 Sr.

Megan Jones G 5-4 Jr.

Allie Burton G/F 5-6 Jr.

Alyssa

Richardson G/F 5-6 Jr.

Cheyenne Oren G 5-3 So.

Catie Burton G/F 5-7 Fr.