Girls basketball success is nothing new at River View High School under head coach Gehrig Justice.
Following the exit of several top players due to graduation, the Raiders are entering a transitional phase, but that doesn’t mean River View won’t be a state tournament contender again this season.
“The Katie Dobbs group that took us to the state tournament placed us in the constant top-10 conversation in Class AA,” Justice said. “Of course, we are now single-A, but that success led to the group with Trista Lester and Hayley Payne who graduated last year.”
This incoming freshman group is very familiar with the big time names that have played for the Raiders.
“My freshman group was in third grade when the Katie Dobbs group went to the state tournament. When Katie graduated, she coached that group and she coached them all the way up. There are five of them that are still there,” Justice said. “Back then I said if we can work with that group, by the time they are juniors and seniors we will have a chance to win (a state title).”
Seniors Brooke Fuller and Abigail Pruitt along with junior Kaylee Blankenship will lead the new group of Raiders this year.
“Abi, Kaylee and Brooke were the young ones at the peak of our programs performance. Now there is a transition. That group will now be the ones that lead us into the next phase,” Justice said. “We are extremely young and my older girls have never carried a team. They have been complimentary players. There are two or three of those freshman that will support, but they need that older guidance.”
With the loss of experience and the influx of so much you youth, Justice has re-evaluated how his team will play.
“We can’t line up and beat people five on five because we are young. So, we are changing the way we play,” Justice said. “We have went to the way that Glenville State plays and we are running shifts. We are throwing five bodies in every (45-90) seconds.”
Bunky Harkleroad brought “The System” to Glenville State and it reached it’s peak under head coach Kim Stephens who won a DII women’s national championship in 2022.
“It will be fun. Right now, we have four girls that can play, but from 5-12 there is not a huge difference,” Justice said. “I won’t say we have the best kids in single-A, but I have 12 kids that can do something. Hopefully the two or three that can score will be on the floor at the right times. So far it has gone good, but it will be a work in progress.”
Justice also admitted it will be an adjustment for him as a coach.
Coaching more of a traditional style, “The System” is a fast paced style of play with pressure defense, high-volume substitutions and a barrage of shots from behind the arc.
“If I ever had a team shoot more than eight 3-pointers in a game, I would have gone nuts,” Justice said, laughing. “The benchmark in this system is to shoot 25-30 3’s a game, so we have been shooting them.”
“We will be more aggressive on defense and speed people up as much as possible,” Justice went on to say. “You play offense faster than you play defense, shooting the ball every 12 seconds. You might get whipped in the first quarter or first half, but in the second half you start to see (the other team) sucking air as a result of those rotations.”
The best news for Justice has been the fact that his team has bought in and loves playing the new style of basketball.
“The kids have bought in because most of them realize it is a chance for them to play right a way,” Justice said. “They will play versus sitting on the bench, practicing and getting in during mop up duty. Even the older kids have bought in.”
