After a 3-22 2009-10 girls’ basketball season the Commerce Lady Tigers entered summer practice looking to swing the pendulum in the other direction.
With that in mind, coach Eddie McCurley has adopted a new mindset for his team.
“Our slogan for next year is called ‘Here and Now,’” he said. “What we’re trying to get the kids to understand is that we have a tremendous opportunity in front of us this coming season, and we just want to make sure that they see the opportunity and try to reach our goals.”
McCurley said he and his team are tired of waiting on the next class and the next class to turn things around.
“We feel like we have enough talent this year that we can make a move,” he said. “I’m not saying we can win the region championship or anything, but we can get a lot better.”
The team wrapped up two weeks of summer camp recently, including one week at Appalachee and one in Madison County. The varsity team went 6-4 over the two weeks, while the middle school went 1-3 in the one week it participated, facing mostly JV teams.
Over the two weeks, the Lady Tigers competed against several area teams, including Stephens County, Elbert County, Appalachee, Cedar Shoals, Madison County, Walnut Grove, Habersham Central, Loganville and George Walton.
Most of those schools were larger than Commerce, McCurley said.
“I came away from camp impressed with our team,” he added. “I believe most everyone, from the time we started to the time we finished, actually improved their game, some more than others, but certainly everybody improved. I was very excited at the end of camp for what I think the prospects might be for the season.”
For the first time, the Lady Tigers received summer awards for their performances at camp.
For the varsity, Jaz Grier was named MVP. Drea Mathis received the leadership award, while Lilly Mather and Hannah Davis shared the best rebounder award. Savannah Romans received the best attitude award, Vanessa Chandler was named best defensive player, Jessika Kyle received the hustle award, Madison Maddox was named most improved and Erica Greene and Allie Morgan both received the coaches award.
“I think Jaz Grier is really ready to have the year we’ve been expecting her to have,” McCurley said. “I think she’s very excited about the year getting started.”
McCurley said Grier probably averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds per game at camp.
For the middle school team, Libby Lance was named the MVP, Jordan Smith was named best defensive player, and Rashonda White received the hustle award. Trelmila Sims was named most improved and Savannah Mullis was named best rebounder.
“Libby Lance is an upcoming seventh grader,” McCurley said. “There were coaches at camp that couldn’t believe she was going into the seventh grade. She’s going to be one of those special players when she reaches the high school level.”
After losing four starting seniors last year, McCurley said returning Grier, along with a couple of other players that started at times last season and the young talent coming up should give the Lady Tigers the chance to a lot better than they were last year.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Commerce News.
