By Kyle LoJacono
High school gyms won’t host basketball games for several months, but the Steinbrenner girls basketball team is training like it’s midseason.
The players have reason to put in more work than ever this summer as the Warriors enter their fourth season. They went 22-3 last year and claimed their first district championship, including a 10-0 record against Class 7A-District 9 opponents.
The banner year followed 9-10 and 15-7 campaigns in 2009-10 and 2010-11, respectively. Now, instead of building up, it’s the Warriors on top with others looking to dethrone them.
“That’s motivation for us the fact that they’re out to get us,” said Bailey Hooker, a 6-foot senior forward/guard.
Additional fuel comes from how short the playoff run was; a first-round exit to St. Petersburg 42-39 in overtime.
“Looking back at that game I just think dang,” Hooker said. “Whenever someone brings it up, or coach says we were that close, that is fuel for our fire to work even harder because we were that close.”
Steinbrenner graduated only one starter, but also lost four seniors off the bench.
“It’s very different,” Hooker said. “I’d say the dynamic of our team is so different because that group was part of the core that came here that same year, and we all played on the same AAU team. Having them leave, even though they weren’t starters, they were part of our chemistry. Having them leave has been weird, but our chemistry is still great.”
The lone starter to graduate is guard Alexis Wright, who scored 8.9 points while being Steinbrenner’s lockdown defender and vocal leader. Warriors coach JR Allen said Wright’s departure will be felt, but added Hooker has begun to fill that guidance void.
“She’s become such a better leader verbally, which is what we need going into this year,” Allen said of Hooker. “We lost probably the best leader I’ve ever had, boy or girl, in Alexis Wright. That was one of my concerns was who’s going to fill that role, and Bailey has done that. She also organizes team things like sleepovers and things like that to keep the team unity. Just having girl stuff so they’re cohesive away from basketball.”
Hooker had a team-high 19.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.1 blocks last season, but is putting in more time and energy this summer to take her game to another level.
Allen gave her individual shooting goals, which include taking 5,000 one-dribble jump shots while making 10,000 3-pointers and 10,000 free throws, but is also working out harder to improve her overall game.
“Coach Allen always tells me ‘you’re a scorer, but I need you playing defense and getting rebounds too,’” Hooker said. “Before each game he gives us goals, and it hardly ever says anything about scoring. It’s usually this many rebounds, steals and assists so we get everyone else involved. That’s good because I like being a versatile player.”
Steinbrenner is also close to getting one starter back from injury — Lauren Shedd.
The 5-foot-10 senior forward was a starter her first two seasons along with the first five games last year before being diagnosed with two fractures in her back. Shedd suffered the breaks to her L4 and L5 vertebra while doing CrossFit training during the summer of 2011.
“I’m really hard headed,” Shedd said with a smile. “I have such a passion for the game and I didn’t want anything to stop me, but it got to the point where I just couldn’t do it anymore. … Originally I did physical therapy for two months and I was cleared, but when I went back it was worse.”
An exam found the breaks hadn’t healed, so Shedd had to wear a full-body brace for 90 days.
Shedd’s back problems go back to when she started playing in eighth grade.
“I wasn’t used to the jumping, so my spine was getting compressed,” Shedd said. “I found out I have a form of scoliosis, and it made the vertebrae in my back extremely weak. I must have broken my back before, maybe as soon as I started playing. I’m not sure. They don’t know how long ago it happened, but it was an old injury. I just thought I had a bad back, so I used ice a lot.”
She still gets sore easily as her muscles adjust to holding her up again, but said her back is feeling much better. Shedd just completed a month of physical rehabilitation and has yet to be cleared to return to the court, but her therapist told her if she continues to progress she should be able to play this season.
“I’m more ready to play a game than I’ve ever been,” Shedd said. “I definitely have more of an appreciation for everything that I am and being healthy and strong. The doctors said I should have been paralyzed, so I’m grateful to get the chance to play again.”
Shedd said just being around the team again is uplifting because of how close the players are.
“We’re just a big family,” Shedd said. “I know a lot of teams say that, but we go out of our way to hang out with each other. We’ve grown up together. I’ve played with these girls since middle school, and I feel like I’m at home with these girls. The chemistry between us inside and out is amazing.”
—Stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches
