NTL GIRLS' BASKETBALL: WYALUSING LOOKING TO BUILD OFF LAST SEASON'S MOMENTUM (2023-12-01)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
The ‘sisterhood’ is back at Wyalusing as a younger Lady Rams squad looks to build off last season’s success.

“I definitely think we have a pretty strong bond for our sisterhood - that’s our whole thing,” Rachel Wilson said. “We definitely have a good group here.”

In his second year coach Nick Reynolds is feeling the excitement from his program.

“The community has been great,” he said. “They players really did want to do a lot in the off season - it was only two days after we lost to South Williamsport when they wanted to get back in the gym. They put a lot of time in the off season, so I think we’re eager and ready to play this year. We are pretty young, we’ve only got a couple of upper classmen, and the rest are freshmen and sophomores.”

One of those upper classmen is sharp shooter Chloe Bennett. Bennett hit 38 3-balls last season en route to a 9.5 points per game average. She also had 1.8 steals per game.

She teamed with leading scorer, Layla Botts, a year ago as the heart of their offense, but Bennett will have a new backcourt mate this season.

“We have lots of good girls coming out,” Bennett said. “They’ve been working hard, and it’s a change, but definitely, we have girls that will be good and respond.”

Treanna Nickeson (3.1 points per game, 2.5 rebounds per game) will be one candidate to play the off guard spot, and will not only be a scorer but also defend the opposing team’s best offensive player.

Still, replacing 15 points per game won’t be easy.

“She had a different motor in her,” Reynolds said about Layla. “We could lean on her when we needed a bucket - she went hard. How do you replace the Offensive Player of the Year?”

He’s hoping to have the answer in another Botts.

“Her little sister is coming up, Alysha Botts,” he said. “She is going to be a freshman this year, and I’m excited to work with her. I think she’s going to do some big things for us.”

At the end of the day, though, it’s going to have to be a group effort.

“We know we’ve got to run a good offense, and be more structured than last year,” said Reynolds.

Wilson returns down low, who averaged 5.6 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game a year ago. Once their senior center went down with an injury Wilson has to move over to center, and was typically matched up with a bigger player.

She’s been preparing for that this off-season.

“I’ve definitely been working on strength and ball handling,” said Wilson. 

While they hope to remain as injury free as possible this year, they hope their sisterhood will carry them through whatever adversity they face.

“I’m thinking we could be come a lot stronger,” said Wilson. “If we don’t have those injuries we push through the season, we all get stronger as a group. So, if something like that happens, we won’t all fall apart.”

 

Going forward they’ve set the bar high this year. They got a taste of playoff basketball last year, facing the top seed, South Williamsport, in the first round. Even though they lost they feel they can compete at that level.

“We want to go for a district title this year,” Bennett said.

That seem outlandish, considering they were the eighth seed a year ago and finished the season 8-15, a closer look shows things were a little bit closer than that.

“If you look back at last season, out of our 22 games, 11 of them were decided in single digits,” Reynolds said. “So we have a lot of circles on our calendar of where we want to get revenge this year. And the kids want it as a program, they’re working really hard because they want a little redemption.”

First thing’s first, they have to build their team up.

“Want to have a strong sisterhood,” Bennett said. “That’s our motto, we want to have a great bond with each other.”

ROSTER

Chloe Bennett

Elizabeth Kilmer

Yulonda Torres

Chloie Whipple

Audrey Worthington

Josie Ferris

Emily Johns

Treanna Nickeson

Aleta O’Connor

Rachel Wilson

Emily Fowler

Alysha Botts

Alyssa Sterling

Alissa Baldwin

Kassandra Kerin

Managers:

Danielle Wilson

Paige Salsman

SCHEDULE

Dec. 1 vs Blue Ridge at Susquehanna, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 2 at Susquehanna, 1:30 p.m.

Dec. 5 vs Canton, 7 p.m.

Dec. 7 vs NPL, 7 p.m.

Dec. 9 at Elk Lake, 1:30 p.m.

Dec. 12 at CV, 7 p.m.

Dec. 14 at Troy, 7 p.m.

Dec. 19 vs Athens, 7 p.m.

Dec. 27 at Mike Fought Tournament

Dec. 28 at Mike Fought Tournament

Jan. 3 at Towanda, 7 p.m.

Jan. 9 at Williamson, 7 p.m.

Jan. 11 at Wellsboro, 7 p.m.

Jan. 17 vs NPM, 7 p.m.

Jan. 19 at NEB, 7 p.m.

Jan. 26 vs Troy, 7 p.m.

Jan. 29 vs Sayre, 7 p.m.

Jan. 31 at Athens, 7 p.m.

Feb. 2 vs Towanda, 7 p.m.

Feb. 7 vs Williamson, 7 p.m.

Feb. 9 vs Wellsboro, 7 p.m.

Feb. 14 at Sullivan County, 7:30 p.m.

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