Farden and company hope to get back to district playoffs
By Tony Dondero
Enterprise reporter
SHORELINE
For senior Becky Farden and her Shorewood girls basketball teammates, this year is a chance to avoid a setback and get back to the district playoffs.
Farden, a 5-9 guard, averaged 16 points per game last season to lead Shorewood but the Thunderbirds missed the playoffs after qualifying in 2007 for the first time in seven years.
“I think we have better team chemistry,” said Farden, one of three returning senior co-captains. “I feel like this year we have a lot better balance. It’s not just one or two people doing it.”
“Obviously teams are going to be focusing on her,” Shorewood coach Nina Lowe said. “We’re going to find ways to get her the ball. We’re going to need everyone to contribute to be successful.”
It’s also the team’s second year under the guidance of Lowe, who won a state title at Shorewood as a high school sophomore in 1998. The T-birds, who return four varsity players, are more comfortable with her system this season.
“We’re executing our plays better,” 5-6 senior guard/forward and co-captain Lynsey Clark said.
Shorewood also returns 6-0 senior post and co-captain Kelsey England and 5-9 junior forward Taylor Nephew off a team that went 3-13 in the Western Conference South Division last year and 4-16 overall.
Both Nephew, who averaged eight rebounds per game to lead Shorewood, and England provide the inside presence on a team that lacks height but is athletic, Lowe said.
“She finds a way to get to the ball,” Lowe said of Nephew. “Very good instincts.”
Along with starters Farden, Nephew, England, quick 4-10 junior Shannon Hasegawa will start at point guard.
The Western Conference South Division appears to be more wide open this season. With stars like Jackson’s Kristi Kingma at the University of Washington and Meadowdale’s Eryn Jones at Portland State, those top teams are less formidible. Edmonds-Woodway returns all its key players and should be tough, as of course will Jackson, Meadowdale and Kamiak, which is led by Divison I-bound guard Kelsey Patrick.
“It’s kind of a mystery right now,” Lowe said. “The gap between the teams is less.”
Shorewood can hold its own and compete for one of four district playoff spots, Lowe believes.
“Realistically I believe we can,” she said. “We got to win the games we should win. Really, we’ll need to improve every game.”
If the T-birds are to make the playoffs they’ll have to win the close games. Shorewood lost four league games by five points or less last season.
“We had a lot of close games,” Lowe said. “There were some close ones where we couldn’t get over the hump.”
Shorewood has had a few players out with various ailments and injury. Sophomore guard Erin Ellersick, who made a splash as a freshman, is out for the season after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in her knee in a select game last spring. Sophomore guard Lisa Echert, a potential scoring threat, is expected back by mid-December after battling illness and junior forward Emma Harry should return in January from an Achilles injury.
The T-birds focus on conditioning during a free throw exercise during practice and then run in the hallways for 10 minutes at the end of practice. Weight lifting is also part of the training regimen as well for the T-birds who need to build strength to offset their lack of size.
“What I’ve loved is the intensity I’ve seen in practice,” Lowe said. “They’re not satisfied with last season.”
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