The weekend brought additional accolades when 103.5 ESPN Southern Illinois named the Lady Bulldogs their team of the week Saturday, Dec. 2. This follows earlier nominations by the Orthopedic Center of Southern Illinois of junior Kinzleigh Smothers and sophomore Jamisen Green as 618 Players of the Week.
The Lady Bulldogs started their season strong by winning the Harrisburg Lady Bulldog Basketball Preview Tournament. They are currently 9-0 including the tournament wins.
“We practiced to our full potential,” senior point guard Kameron Adams said. “We practiced the week before and went over every team. We went over their offense and our game plan and it led us to first place.”
Smothers, who plays shooting guard, added that their coaches definitely helped them focus on how they needed to perform to win.
“The toughest team was Carmi because they had just gone to state in volleyball and a lot of the girls were on the basketball team,” senior forward/center Frankie Leigh Nicholes said.
Nicholes worried that their momentum would make them difficult to beat.
Smothers felt their size was a handicap.
“Throughout the tournament, the biggest struggle was probably rebounding. We’re a smaller team that normally faces taller opponents,” Smothers said.
Adams said that the players often get lost on defense or the plays don’t play out correctly due to the lack of communication on the court.
“Communication is something we could work on,” Adams said.
Despite these weaknesses, the team was able to bring home the first place trophy.
“I feel good about winning this tournament,” Adams said. “I think this gives us more confidence to go throughout the season.”
Smothers and Adams were chosen as members of the All-Tournament team as well as Green.
“Me and Kam worked really hard to try to make it, so we feel very accomplished to have been picked to be a part of it,” Smothers said.
Smothers added that this tournament has shown her how well they all play together as a team.
“I feel like we have the potential to have a successful season,” Smothers said.
