PikeView saw its three-year state tournament streak come to an end last season with a 24-turnover performance against Lewis County in a 54-50 loss at home in the regional round.
With an experienced group of seniors and juniors who have starting experience going back to their freshman seasons, the hope is to start a new streak.
“That was a tough loss to end the season,” PikeView head coach Tracy Raban said. “It left a sour taste in my mouth for sure. I don’t remember the full details of it, but I think we were up nine or 11 at one point in that game and you lose by four with 24 turnovers. It was a very winnable game and a very disappointing loss, very disappointing way to end the season. Most, I wouldn’t say all the girls, but most of the girls have worked over the summer and they have a chip on their shoulder and we actually have 54 -50 posted in our locker room and we have the article posted on the wall and we look at it every day. It’s a reminder every day. And we have that chip on our shoulder. We’re taking that mentality and I’ve left it in their hands. It is up to them they’re prepared and it’s up to them if they go and perform every night and try to prove to the state that we do still exist and we’re here to prove the point that we belong with the best.”
Raban has her top five returning as well as some key bench pieces. Leading scorer Riley Meadows leads the charge for her junior season with Brooke Craft and Hannah Harden manning the post. Cat Farmer and Jocelynn Hall handle the ball.
“Cat, Brooke and Hannah have been with me since I started at PikeView,” Raban said. “They were freshmen and they stepped into unique roles as freshmen where numbers were limited and I’m pretty confident in saying that all three of those have started pretty much the bulk of their career. And like you said Riley, coming back with significant experience and Jocelynn was that surprise freshman and I felt like she came along a lot quicker than most freshmen do. She has worked tremendously in the offseason. She’s one that has dedicated herself to the weight room and playing travel ball all summer long. So there is a lot of experience there. I’ve approached the season with doing my coaching job but they are experienced a lot more than what you would normally have in a team throughout the state and it’s up to them to go and perform now. They know what they’ve got to do. They know what it takes night in and a night out and a lot of it’s on them. If they want to go and do it, they determine how far they want to take the team.”
The one thing that could hurt PikeView is depth. There is no JV team this year due to a low turnout but Raban does still have some pieces she likes.
“We only have 12 kids that came out so that’s it was very disappointing,” Raban said. “There was a freshman that’s came up, Tylar Burks, and she has potential to help. I don’t know if she’ll come along as quick as Jocelynn did. But there is definitely potential there. So there’s only one kid to really add to that mix. But now if you’re not talking about freshmen, I have Haley Justice who’s a 6-foot-1 post player that’s a junior and Jaelynn Shrewsbury will go along with those five so there’s seven potentially eight kids that you’re looking at with significant playtime.”
With a talented, experienced group, Raban and the Panthers want to get back to Charleston but with a veteran group she’s hammering the point that their work ethic determines how far they’ll go.
“We want to host that regional game,” Raban said. “We know what it takes to get to that. I think our region is going to be tough. The fact that you’re gonna probably either face Lewis County or Sissonville makes it tough. That’s not taking anything away from Herbert Hoover, or anybody else. I would think we would want our host that regional championship game and I think if this team does what they’re capable of doing, and they all bring their A-game night in and night out it’s a very realistic goal to say that we could be playing in Charleston on Saturday. This team has to come together with the team chemistry, like we talked about last year, we can’t have 20-plus turnovers. That can’t happen and we can’t have the freshman and sophomore mistakes in ballgames.
You are a veteran squad that should be playing like veterans, not 9th and 10th graders. These 11th and 12th graders have ton of experience at regional and state tournament levels. So if they’re able to be at that level and mature to that level, I think they’re capable of doing what they want to do. But I kind of leave the ball in their court as far as how far they want to go. It’s up to them.”
