Last year Princeton appeared to be the early favorite to win its section and compete for a spot in the state tournament.
That early momentum eventually faded and the Tigers fell in the sectional opener, advancing no further than they had in years past. A 30-plus day layoff between mid-December and January caused by weather and Covid contributed to the Tigers’ inability to recapture their early season form but head coach Matt Smith has liked what he’s seen from his group early this season
“Things have looked good and been very competitive,” Smith said. “We’re down one right now as she’s sick. She’s easing back into things. That’s our starting point guard so we’ve had to start he year by adjusting to that and that’s only going to help us down the stretch.”
The Tigers graduated three seniors including starters Lauren Parrish and Sadie Boggess but the seniors he’s brought in this year have stepped up and created a welcoming atmosphere with a chemistry absent from last year’s team.
“So far things have been great,” Smith said. “What I’ve seen from mys senior group, and I have five seniors, but the thing I’ve liked most so far early on is their willingness to help some of the younger girls and make sure they’re in position and make sure they know offensively and defensively what they need to be doing and they’re essentially an extension of the coaching staff on the floor. That’s been a pleasant surprise.”
While Princeton found a way around sectional foes Beckley and Greenbrier East in the regular season, the Tigers couldn’t replicate that success in sectionals, falling to Beckley. The loss has helped Smith and Co. chart their course for this season.
“If you’re ever lucky enough to get out of the section the other side of the region is just as brutal,” Smith said. “Last year we took a couple steps and won some big games like beating Woodrow at home and Greenbrier East at home. Now the next big step is to carry that on the road and win those big games on the road. The environment we have at Princeton is huge advantage for us so if we could get sectionals at our place it’s a huge advantage but the next step in our third year is to get to that sectional championship game and see what we can do from there because until you take that next step there’s no point in talking about what’s beyond that.”
The Tigers aren’t as physically big as they were last year but Smith likes their physical traits.
“We have some speed,” Smith said. “Maddie (Stull) is back, (Autumn) Bane is back and we still have a lot of length. We’re not overly tall but our length and athleticism help. I just think the addition of these younger girls in Kaylee Wright and Asia Collins, who got some varsity minutes at the end of the year, the athleticism they bring is going to help us tremendously. I like our speed, length and chemistry and we had a couple issues with that last year but hopefully those things are behind us and we’re ready for a successful season.”
If anything, last season was a learning experience for the Tigers. They realized success needs to be maintained across an entire season and each night presents a new opportunity. It also showed them that if they truly want to compete they need to beef up their schedule. As a result Smith took action, being proactive in the offseason.
“It’s a long season,” Smith said. “We got off to a great start and I’m not going to say the break did us in but knowing that we want to get where we want to get, a good December isn’t going to be enough. The girls aren’t going to settle. We talked about it after the season, what do we want to achieve? We want to get to the sectional championship and there’s going to be times where we don’t play very well and phases where we do. One thing we didn’t do well last year is recover from off nights. We just don’t want to get too high or too low knowing there will be bumps in the road. We want to remain focused. My assistant coach, coach Miller always says ‘be 1-0 tonight’ and that’s what we went to do. We’ve tried to up the schedule. We’ve added in Huntington, Pulaski County, Va. and everybody on the other side of the region so we can better prepare ourselves for big games late in the year.”
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
