Third year Coach Brent Bryant is committed to rebuilding Lincoln's struggling girls basketball program.
Recently, they took a major step in the right direction by holding a three day youth basketball camp for 4th-6th graders. He also took his varsity girls to Columbia for three games against some tough competition last Saturday.
Some 14 girls showed up for the youth camp. He also had 14 girls on varsity show up to help out.
Considering that three years ago they had a season with six players and put just five on a floor the year before, 14-17 sign-ups is a pretty nice step forward.
The Lady Cards have been sending inexperienced players up against the likes of premier powers like Tipton, Skyline and Eldorado Springs and obviously not fairing very well.
The recent camp showcased some young talent. You can tell that some of the younger Lincoln players have been receiving instruction from their parents at home.
There are two things to remember; if a player can dribble the ball effectively then playing time will come, and making friends with the backboard will put points on the scoreboard.
We had a chance to interview Coach Bryant.
Below is our conversation.
JL: When was the last girls basketball camp at Lincoln?
Bryant: This is our second team camp since I have been at Lincoln; not sure if they had them in the past.
JL: Do you have other things planned for the summer for middle schoolers?
Bryant: Middle school girls will be joining the high school girls during open gym throughout the summer
High school girls will have open gyms and plan to play 15-18 games throughout June and July.
JL: Size and ball handlers seem to be your biggest setbacks right now (There is no girl over 5'8").
Bryant: Yes, we don’t have much size. We are always working on ball handling, so we hope to find a point guard this season.
JL: Which freshmen will help you this year?
Bryant: I think all the freshman will play solid roles for our program. I look forward to seeing them compete with their peers.
JL: You had 14 middle schoolers and 14 varsity girls show up. Are you happy with that?
Bryant: I was very pleased with our numbers for both youth and team camp. We had some high school girls working who couldn’t make it. I’m expecting 15-17 high school girls come season.
We will find success as we play more throughout the year. Implementing a summer program will be huge for our girls.
JL: Thanks Coach. We wish you the best!
