Dolphins have good shot at winning NWAACC North
By Tony Dondero
Enterprise reporter
SHORELINE
The Shoreline Community College women’s basketball team boasts an entirely new lineup and has already surpassed its win total of last year.
The Dolphins started 6-2 after posting a 5-20 mark last year in coach Derek Witt’s first year.
“That’s what happens when you get to recruit your own kids,” said Witt, who was hired in the summer of 2007.
“We’re much more athletic which is tailored to my style of coaching,” Witt said. “Last year we had girls who played basketball; this year we have basketball players who are girls.”
Most of the players hope to play for four-year colleges.
“For the most part in this group it’s important to play at the next level,” Witt said. “There’s a sense of urgency.”
Point guard Tasha Shipman, a 5-5 freshman out of Black Hills High School, leads the Dolphins’ offense. Kylie Williams, a 5-8 freshman shooting guard out of North Beach High School, a 1B school in Ocean Shores, averages 14.5 points per game.
At small forward, the Dolphins have Alvina Franklin, a 5-8 freshman out of Mercy High School in San Francisco, and Kathleen McGee, 5-10 freshman out of Black Hills.
Kierra Harrison, a 5-10 freshman out of Fort Vancouver High School, who averages a team-high 16.5 points, fills the power forward slot.
Ashley Flemming, a 5-11 freshman center out of Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas, leads the team with 11.5 rebounds per game.
The Dolphins have only two players that are 6-feet are taller and neither of them are in the starting five.
That’s OK with Witt.
“We’re going to push it, make or miss,” he said. “We want to get up and down the floor. The big cumbersome girls don’t necessarily fit that sometimes.”
In Witt’s system, the point guard and shooting guard are the same position for the most part while the small forward and power forward are similar.
“Our strength is our versatility,” Witt said. “I’ve got a bunch of girls who can play different positions.”
His 5-8 to 5-10 tall players can cause mismatches and bring bigger players away from the basket, he said.
The team is young with 11 freshmen on the roster. They’re learning the speed of the college game and how to make reads out of the offense.
“They’re learning together at his point,” Witt said. “You will see as the year goes along the offense will catch up to where we are defensively now.”
The Dolphins will play primarily a man-to-man, trapping half-court defense, Witt said.
They will also press full court.
“We want to dictate the speed on offense and we want to dictate the speed on defense,” he said.
No NWAACC North Division team was ranked in the preseason NWAACC poll, but Skagit Valley and Shoreline got votes.
“We like to believe with the additions and changes we’ve made this year we’re going to be pushing for that top spot (in the division),” Witt said. “It’s definitely fair to say it’s within our reach. Freshmen have to grow up and realize when we get into conference every possession is important.”
The Dolphins open conference play Jan. 3 at Peninsula.
Shoreline has only made the NWAACC playoffs once but it would be a “disappointment” if the team didn’t make it this year, Witt said.
“We feel pretty good,” he said.
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