Larkin believes Lady Gators will take another step forward
Geibel Catholic coach Sarah Larkin draws up a play for the Lady Gators during a timeout in a game against Chartiers-Houston at Brownsville鈥檚 Falcon Fest on Dec. 2.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Geibel Catholic freshman Emma Larkin dribbles the ball against Chartiers-Houston during a game at Falcon Fest in Brownsville on Dec. 2. Larkin poured in 45 points as the Lady Gators defeated Avella, 50-44, Thursday night to improve to 7-7 overall and 2-2 in Section 2-A after combining for just four wins in the previous four seasons.
Geibel Catholic's Ava Partridge returns for her sophomore season.
Sara Larkin enters her second season as head coach of the Geibel Catholic Lady Gators and thinks the team can another step forward in the building process.
鈥淚 have a few more girls to work with this season,鈥� said Larkin. 鈥淟ast year I only had seven girls. This year we bumped up to nine. I was hoping for at least 10, but now I can do a few more things at practice and get a little closer to simulating game conditions.鈥�
What helps the situation is that Larkin returns four players from last year.
Seniors Amanda Hoffer and Maia Stevenson have been with the program four years. The other two returning players are sophomores Ava Partridge and Gianna Holonich.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking for them to take on more of a leadership role,鈥� said Larkin. 鈥淚 know it鈥檚 out of their comfort zone because they are quiet girls. They know everybody on the team and are becoming a little more vocal.鈥�
One thing that pleases Larkin is that the girls have worked hard during the offseason to improve their skill level, noting it鈥檚 like night and day. She started from square one a year ago teaching the very basics, now she feels she has a solid foundation to work with.
One person Larkin will look to depend on is her daughter, Emma, who is one of four freshmen on the team.
鈥淓mma鈥檚 had a basketball in her hand ever since she could walk,鈥� Sarah Larkin said. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to be asking a lot of her. I expect her to be my primary ball-handler and control the tempo. She was at a lot of the practices last year and knows the girls. I don鈥檛 expect her to play like a freshman.鈥�
Larkin said the other freshmen are new to basketball, so it is going to take some time to develop. But, the newcomers are a little bigger in the 5-8 to 5-9 range.
Sophomore Lydia Geary is new to the team and is in her first year of basketball. However, she did play volleyball.
鈥淚f I can get these kids to rebound and play defense that will go a long way to making us a better team,鈥� said Sarah Larkin.
Larkin admits she didn鈥檛 know what to expect in Class A basketball last year, not knowing the teams or the coaches. However, she feels she has a better handle on things this season and expects big improvements from the Lady Gators.
鈥淲e got two wins last year, so that was big for these girls after a couple of winless seasons,鈥� said Sarah Larkin. 鈥淚鈥檝e set some goals for this team. I鈥檇 like to see them win between 8 to 10 games this year and make the playoffs.
鈥淭he girls looked at me like I was crazy. I think the chemistry here is good. There is no drama. I remember how good they felt winning a couple of games. We鈥檝e got to try to push for more.鈥�