Athens – Greenbrier East all-stater Cadence Stewart has found herself in a familiar position again this summer.
After most of her teammates that played meaningful minutes for a squad that made it to the regional round this past March graduated a few weeks ago, she’s left to pick up most of the slack and help the program regroup.
It’s nothing new for the rising senior.
During her freshman season she cracked a senior-laden rotation as a 3-point specialist but after the entire starting lineup graduated she was left to pick up the pieces and guide a new group. This summer, specifically during the WVSSAC’s three week period where each sport is allowed a consecutive three week period out of season to participate in team related activities, she’s been leaning on what she learned two years ago.
“I’d say it’s sort of like that time,” Stewart said Saturday at the Concord Women’s Basketball Team Shootout. “I’d say our basketball IQ is a lot higher. We have a lot of girls who have played basketball a lot. Like McKenna (McClure) and my sister (Kennedy), they’ve played together for years so they know what to do. It’s just the fact we’re not experienced yet and we’ll get there.”
Being the veteran means Stewart will also have to fully grasp the role of a leader. Her play as a sophomore exhibited her strengths as an on-court leader and in doing so as she notched her first all-state selection that season. She followed it up this past season with another all-state campaign but also had several seniors that could help shoulder the burden.
This season figures to be different.
The Lady Spartans are likely to start numerous freshmen alongside Stewart meaning they’ll likely look to her when adversity strikes.
“I think I’ll have to pick everyone up on the team,” Stewart said. “They’re freshmen and Caroline (Dotson) is a sophomore. They’re going to have night where they’re not going to do good. I just have to encourage them even when I’m not doing good.”
Stewart’s also aware she’ll need to heed her own words at times.
Now more than ever, she’ll be the focal point of opposing teams’ game plans when they face East. It means she won’t get as many open looks as in previous years, will likely be run off the 3-point line and will have to work harder for each shot attempt.
Knowing that, she’s been preparing for handling her emotions and getting other teammates more involved to find weaknesses in opposing defenses. The Lady Spartans’ summer slate, which has featured several competitive teams in college shootouts to this point, has served as a good test run for what she’ll see. It also helps she’s aware of the end goal – to get better and make a state tournament push.
“I’m just trying to focus on having fun out there,” Stewart said. “We’re a young team. We’re not as experienced as we have been in the past. I’m just trying to keep into perspective that we’re young and we’re going to get better and hopefully by the end of the season we’ll be pretty good.”
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