Young Lady Wildcats adjusting to new style and overachieving
Young Lady Wildcats adjusting to new style and overachieving

By Chris Chaney
Sun staff

In just her second year at the helm of Williamsburg’s girls basketball program, head coach Hayley Bogan has her team turning heads around Southwest Ohio as the Lady Wildcats have opened the season 7-4.

“We have a young group of girls,” Bogan said. “They are very coachable. They come in and want to know what to do. They lack the experience of knowing the speed of the varsity game, but they are adjusting quickly because they’re listening and understanding what I want from them.”

Williamsburg proved over the first five games — all of which were played in league against Southern Buckeye Conference – National Division opponents — that they wouldn’t be the walk-over team they had been in the past; they were winless in 2013-14.

The 2014-15 Lady Wildcats sent that message in their first regular-season game by routing Clermont Northeastern on the road, 62-46. Despite going 1-4 over their next five games, Burg showed a resiliency that had been lacking in the past.

The Lady Wildcats dropped three conference match ups, but all were two-possession games. The squad’s shortcomings down the stretch of those contests is something that Bogan equates to their youth, but the coach believes that the on-the-job training her team has endured over the first half of the season will prove beneficial when they make their second tour through the league.

“We know that (our division) is stronger than it’s been in the past,” Bogan said. “We talk to our girls about our opponents’ (strengths) and how to handle them. We talk about the fourth quarter and how important it is to be hitting our free throws, making as few mistakes as possible and make sure that we control the ball within the final minutes of the game.

“The losses that we’ve had — we look at our free throw percentages and turnovers in the fourth quarter — they have come back to hurt us. We’re hoping the second round going through (the league) with that experience that we’ll have a different outcome.”

Leading the way in the experience department for the Lady Wildcats are sophomores Lexi Stephens and Hope Schaljo. The duo is in their second year in Bogan’s system and has taken on leadership roles having embraced the coach’s style of play.

Schaljo and Stephens are also one-third of the Lady Wildcats’ six-man rotation that also features Peyton Fisher, Emily Brown, Carly Wagers and Kasey Connor.

“Lexi and Hope have had me yelping in their ear for a good year and a half now,” Bogan said. “The other (four), I take some small moments to teach them during the game and rotate them in and out.

“With the six of them, it’s easy to pull one of them out and tell them ‘this is what I need from you,’ and they go back in and respond. For the most part, they all respond very well to what I ask of them.”

The constant rotation of personnel matches up with Bogan’s philosophy on the court, which is to get up and down the floor as fast as possible.

“We’ve got the athletic ability to run the floor well,” Bogan said. “A lot of our practices are geared around staying in shape and doing full-court stuff, whether it be a drill or just a little extra running.

“Each night we step out there, we can have a few different girls step up. Our goal is to have everyone be an offensive threat and keep them all defensively grounded.”

Bogan said depending on who is having an “on” or “off” night, having multiple options at her disposal has helped her team stay balanced through the rigors of the season.

Williamsburg expects their continued conditioning, depth and experience to be a key factor in what they hope is a strong finish to the regular season.

The Lady Wildcats will begin their second run through their division on Thursday, Jan. 22 when they host Clermont Northeastern with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m.