Perhaps in a few more weeks I could be saying this about a myriad of Mid-Ohio Valley hoops teams.
However, Tuesday evening I had the opportunity to take in the South Charleston girls basketball game inside Memorial Fieldhouse against Parkersburg.
Big Red head coach Kenny DeMoss' squad does indeed have what looks to be a group of girls who could end up being a tough out once the postseason rolls around in a few months.
For the time being, the red and white are just happy to be 1-0.
If anyone who attended the game was wondering what happened to the floor bleacher seating at PHS here's your answer.
"I know there are some people who aren't happy about that, but we really like it and we are going to try this for a year," said Lori Lowers, the athletics director at PHS.
"The original plan was to have them back on one side. It's so much more open now and a lot cleaner. They will not be back at all (this year)."
No one is sure what the actual seating capacity is at the moment, but it was 3,500. Also, the student section is now behind the basket.
While Tuesday night's game had a decent crowd, I'm sure coach DeMoss and his girls would love to see more fans turn out. Of course, the best way to get that to happen is to keep winning basketball games.
"This is a very unique team," DeMoss said following the 68-56 triumph versus the Black Eagles. "We have seven seniors and six freshmen on varsity and we have a junior and a sophomore.
"We have no idea what combination is going to play each night. We know who our horses are, but we don't know exactly who is going to contribute. We know that everybody can."
Seniors Megan Morrison and Imani Ward both earned honorable mention Class AAA all-state honors a year ago while fellow classmate Kennedy Walker can't be missed with her 6-foot-4 frame. Not only did Walker knock down a 3-pointer against South Charleston, but she also had three blocks in the first quarter.
Although I'm not sure how often the Big Reds are going to be able to get all 15 varsity players into each game, there's no question PHS wants to get up and down the court. Freshman Brooke Kurucz made her first career varsity start and I was impressed with fellow ninth-grade guard Nicole Dent, who scored six points and knocked down all four of her foul shots.
"We're definitely going to push the ball offensively," DeMoss added. "That's us. That's who we are, especially with our freshmen we have right now. We know this is the style of basketball we want to play the next four years and we know who is coming up through our program.
"We know that our seniors can do the same thing so it's to our benefit to play this push the tempo kind of basketball. I think we're just a work in progress and we want to peak at the right time."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com
