The 2021-22 girls basketball season will be a totally different landscape for third-year Independence head coach Mark Cuthbert.
However, it will be different in a positive way.
Cuthbert will be starting the season with more girls on the roster than he has had in his first two seasons combined.
“It’s great to have numbers finally, and we have some promising athletes too. I have some seniors who came out for the first time that have had success in other sports,” Cuthbert said. “I am pretty excited to see how we are going to be this year. It’s good to see growing interest in the girls basketball program.”
After having just 17 total girls the first two years combined, Indy will start the season with a roster of 18 players.
“It has been different these last two weeks, but it is a nice problem to have,” Cuthbert said. “I am normally the team that doesn’t have enough for JV.”
The Patriots will have four players that return from last year including junior Jenna Harvey and sophomores Ally Hypes, Kaylee Pierce and Skylar Wooton.
“Jenna has been with me for two years and does all of the dirty work,” Cuthbert said. “She will get rebounds and guards the best player. She is a phenomenal athlete.”
Hypes did most of the ball handling last year and is the shortstop on the softball team.
“Ally is a fierce competitor on and off the floor. She gives you that grit that you need on the court,” Cuthbert said. “Kaylee and Skylar played some for us last year and got a lot of experience. They just need to get more confident,”
Sarah Bragg and Chloe Honaker lead the band of seniors along with Alyssa Daniels and Olivia Green.
Bragg is a standout volleyball and softball player, while Honaker is coming off a strong season in cross-country.
“Sarah is a coaches daughter and she has been very successful. Chloe is a cross-fit guru. We will look for them to be strong leaders for us,” Cuthbert said.
Daniels is another softball player who played basketball in middle school at Beckley-Stratton, while Green has already signed to run track at Bluefield State next year.
“Alyssa can be a real surprise for us and she could be one of our leading scorers,” Cuthbert said. “She will probably need to handle the ball some and be somewhat of a do-it-all player for us. She is really skilled.”
Junior Makaila Bolen will play her first season and comes from a family that knows the game of basketball according to Cuthbert. Bolen will be an additional post presence for the Patriots.
Having a full roster of talented players will also pose another new dynamic for Cuthbert.
“Finding a starting five with nine or 10 girls will be something new. It will be a learning process for me and a learning process for the girls,” Cuthbert admitted.
Joining the group of upperclassman will be three solid freshmen and one newcomer to the school.
“Hayley Ratliff, Maddy Nelson and Bella Green all know how to play basketball, they just need to get their feet wet,” Cuthbert said. “We also have a transfer that has come in, Mya Shillingburg. Mya will be another do-it-all type player for us. She can put it on the floor and score from anywhere. I think she will another surprise for us.”
With so many new faces, chemistry, one would think, might be an issue. Cuthbert feels his team already has some of that worked out.
“A lot of them played softball or volleyball together. They have already talked amongst themselves and that is why several of them came out together,” Cuthbert said. “The chemistry is there, we just have to work on the fundamentals and get them ready to play basketball.
Always an aggressive player during his high school days, Cuthbert relishes the fact that his team can now play his style of basketball.
“We should be able to play the way I like to play and get after it on the defensive end of the floor because we can substitute,” Cuthbert said. “We will be able to try multiple looks, go full court and half-court, and use all of the girls abilities. They all are athletic and they really get after it.”
Cuthbert is expecting no miracles early in the season, but feels like when the postseason arrives, his girls will be hard to handle.
“I believe we can be successful. Early on, we will have some growing pains and it may take them a little bit to get acclimated to playing high school basketball,” Cuthbert said. “By the end of the year, I don’t think our name will be at the bottom of the pack per se. People aren’t just going to want to play Independence for the easy win.”
