East senior center Kenya Griffin guards junior Kamri Hardeman as she attempts a layup during practice on Monday at the Victoria East gym.
Titans pressure wreaks havoc for opponents
Originally published January 16, 2012 at 11:27 p.m., updated January 16, 2012 at 11:27 p.m.
Print
Share
Comment
Jonathan Hinderliter/jhinderliter@vicad.com
Sophomore center Kendall Carter attempts to block a shot by senior guard Samantha Powitsky on Monday at Victoria East High School.
Jonathan Hinderliter/jhinderliter@vicad.com
With her eyes fixed on the basket, senior guard Adelaide Wenzel looks past the screen of senior center Kenya Griffin during practice on Monday at Victoria East High School.
Jonathan Hinderliter/jhinderliter@vicad.com
Titans point guard Shanice Hughes attempts a block against guard Breanna WIlliams during practice on Monday at Victoria East High School.
Tuesday's District 30-4A Schedule
Floresville at Victoria EastVictoria West at Gregory-PortlandBeeville at Calhoun
Victoria East Steal Leaders
Danielle Franklin 114Shanice Hughes 87Adalaide Wenzel 64Breanna Williams 48Sonya Acuna 48Kenya Griffin 44Kamri Hardeman 44Julia Stastny 40
Victoria East guards Shanice Hughes and Danielle Franklin can tell when the opposing team is getting tired.
"They stop pushing the ball as hard," Hughes said. "They start passing instead of attacking the defense."
"They start passing the ball quicker," Franklin said. "They don't want the ball in their hands. It's fun making people panic."
The Titans have become accustom to creating havoc with the full-court pressure defense introduced by head coach Yulonda Wimbish-North when the school opened before last season.
"She explained everything pretty well, and she showed us everything we need to do," Hughes said. "The best thing about it is our quickness, how we rotate and our trapping."
Defense is in Wimbish-North's basketball DNA. She played for Jan Lahodny at Victoria High and Jody Conradt at Texas before becoming a coach.
"That's basically all I really know," Wimbish-North said. "That's something that we know as a fact is going to win ballgames for you."
No. 13 East (28-2, 3-0) has produced 513 steals and is limiting opponents to just over 40 points per game.
The Titans' defense will be tested by No. 10 Floresville (22-2, 3-0) when the teams play for the outright District 30-4A lead Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the East gym.
"I think our group of kids know the importance of it," Wimbish-North said. "We as coaches don't let them get by with anything. We're stressing that if you're not doing it right, if you're not putting pressure on the ball, if you're not doing those things, we're going to make them aware of it."
Wimbish-North and assistant Mike Smith spend a great deal of time in practice and tape sessions going over the proper defensive techniques.
"In order to be a really good defensive player, your footwork and positioning are very, very important," Wimbish-North said. "If you're not in the proper position and you don't have proper footwork, you're not going to be very successful."
Wimbish-North has learned from experience the benefits of playing defense are often overlooked.
"It requires a lot of work," she said. "If you think about how things are structured right now who do they put in the paper? Those who score 20 points, 30 points.
"Most kids see 'OK, I'm the leading scorer.' That's the thing that's put in the paper. It's not necessarily the defensive aspect that's even put in the game."
Wimbish-North knows the Titans will have to be at their defensive best when they play Floresville.
The Jaguars are averaging 80.4 points per game, have four players averaging in double figures, and scored 94 points in their win over Beeville on Friday.
"Transition defense is going to be critical," Wimbish-North said. "They get the ball down faster than anybody I've seen. We're going to have to get back in transition. Sprint back and communicate and make sure we're matching up because if not, it will be a long night."
Comments