Shelbyville Lady Golden Bears Basketball

Shelbyville Golden Bears - 10/14 - Golden Bear coach John Fair's outlook is "we've got 8 letterwinners plus we've got the Haehls and Wise coming in." The coach has great reason to be excited about the upcoming season after going 13-8 last year. The leading senior is Sarah Laird (5'7 2G), who averaged 13.1 PPG, 3.5 APG and 3 steals per game a year ago. "Sarah is getting stronger and is very dedicated," says Fair, "she plays a lot of minutes, usually in the 28-30 range." Sophomore Katie Douglas (6'0 C) "is a left-handed post player who is just learning the game. She didn't know what the 'block' was last year as a freshman," says Fair. "I say she is our most important player. If we can get her to get 8-10 points and 8-10 rebounds a game, we should be doing alright," adds the coach. As a middle school group, Gretchen Haehl (5'5 PG '04), Gwen Haehl (5'7 G '04) and Haley Wise (5'11 F/C) lost only one game en route to a 36-1 record. That one loss was when Gretchen Haehl sat out ill. Gretchen is expected to be in the starting lineup from the get-go as a varsity freshman this year. The most physical kid on the team is senior Jenni Ross (5'7 F). Five juniors are Ashley Coy (5'8 WF), Megan Eiler (5'5 PG), Anne Griffey (6'0 C), Susan Kolls (5'7 2G) and Ashley Mateney (5'7 2G). Kolls averaged 5 PPG and is known to be a good shooter. Mateney is "the best defender on the team," says Fair. He also adds Eiler will be "the backup point guard." The second-fastest player is sophomore Allison Berger (5'7 2G). "I want to win our conference and win the sectional," say Fair, "but I also just want to get better."