Girls' Basketball » Shawnee girls talented, must grow

Shawnee girls talented, must grow

November 30, 2011 5:43 PM

Tom Usher –Lima News Sports Writer

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — Shawnee girls basketball has come a long way.

After going 34 years without a league title, the Indians have now won two in row. Last year Shawnee was a tri-champion at 8-1 with Bath and St. Marys.

Keeping up that pace will be tough after the graduation of the Indians’ top two scorers, Sammi Dervisevic (18.1 ppg., 51 percent 3-pointers) and Hailey Griffo (15.8 ppg., 45.7 3-pointers). Dervisevic is at UNOH, while Griffo is at Miami.

"Right now we lost a lot of talent from last year and the kids are working hard," Shawnee coach Jeff Heistan said. "We’re really young."

One starter and one long-range shooter return from last year’s team return from an 18-4 team.

The returning starter is 5-foot-5 senior point guard Chrystena Smith (7.6 ppg, 6 apg). The shooter is 5-6 senior Liz Aller, who was usually first off the bench last year. Aller averaged 12.9 points, shot 46 percent on 3-pointers and led the team with 83 3-pointers. She was named second team all-Western Buckeye League.

"We have Liz back, but we’ll have to work a lot harder to score," Heistan said. "Chrystena is an experienced point guard and Liz is a tremendous shooter."

Other returnees include 5-7 guard Britt Lauck (6.8 ppg), 5-4 forward Shantay Glenn and 5-10 forward Stacey Sherrick. Glenn suffered a fractured hip in the third game of the season last year.

Newcomers to watch include sophomores 5-6 guard Isabelle Baird and 5-7 forward Claire Dahlke.

The Indians’ strengths include quickness and experience in the backcourt.

Led by Smith and Aller, the Indians will once again feature their up-tempo game. Expect the team to get out and run, but it will be more selective in its long-range bombing.

Last year Shawnee shot 50.4 percent from the field and an amazing 44.7 on 3-pointers.

"We used to get easy offense off our defense," Heistan said. "Now we’ll have to pick and choose our spots."

Another key to the running game will be rebounding.

"We’ll be rebounding by committee," Heistan said.

Heistan has posted seven straight winning seasons since taking over the girls program. His girls record is 106-46. He’s the first girls basketball coach at Shawnee to win a WBL title and the first to reach 100 wins.

"I like our team," Heistan said. "It’s a matter of growth."