We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
The Turner Tornadoes girls’ basketball team has been in the gym practicing hard in preparation for the 2023-24 season to get underway. Leading the way once again is Head Coach, Julie Welsh. The Turner girls look to play hard for 32 minutes and be able to compete effectively regardless of the opponent. Turner will open up the season in Glasgow at the Class C Showcase.
Welsh is thrilled to get the season started with this year’s roster. “We lost one senior last year in Dakota Krass and gained one senior this year in Hannah Richman. We have a strong freshman group. The four girls who won the district 9C championship in eighth grade Ali Doyle, Abby Grabofsky, Holly Grabofsky and Natalie Richman, juniors Cassidy Grabofsky and Meridian Snider, were starters the past two years.”
Welsh went on to say, “Junior Modesty Chamberlain is a strong body that we hope to use in the paint. Sophomore Bridget Reed is our sure thing inside-out player that can handle the ball on the perimeter or hold her own in the paint. She is fundamentally sound and can be counted on to fill whatever roll is asked of her. Sophomore MJ Cederberg is new. She hasn’t played in a couple of years, but she is really coming along. We hope to use her in the paint and count on some solid defense while she is on the court.”
Welsh talks about preparing for the upcoming season, “Practice has gone really well, and we have been working on defense primarily to improve our play on the court. The girls have been conditioning hard. The year’s team is a pretty quiet group as a whole, so we are focusing on being more vocal. If we can get the girls to communicate effectively on the court, then our overall game will improve at both ends of the court.”
The Tornadoes expect to be a very improved team on both ends of the court. “Offensively, we have got some girls that are pretty strong inside, so we hope to play an inside out style of play. Ali Doyle, Bridget Reed and Cassidy Grabofsky can be effective from the perimeter. Ali, she can shoot, handles the ball very well and can penetrate to find an open shooter or score going to the basket.” Welsh expects the girls to be effective on the other end of the court as well, “Defensively, Abby Grabofsky, Holly Grabofsky, Meridian Snider and Ali Doyle are pretty effective with their perimeter defense and can cause other teams’ problems. Abby Grabofsky and be put on anyone, and she will shut them down with her tight defensive pressure. Inside we can count on Natalie Richman and Hannah Richman, and we will mix in Modesty Chamberlain when needed.”
The Tornado girls’ expectations are very reasonable, “We’re hoping to develop a real strong team dynamic and to be successful and win a few more games than people may expect. We are a young team and if we can create that dynamic of playing good solid basketball, then we can take lessons learned early in the season and build on that to where we are firing on all cylinders come tournament time,” concluded Welsh.
Turner will close out 2023 with the Harlowton Tournament December 8-9, Chester/Joplin-Inverness at home December 25, in Big Sandy December 16 and at home against North Country December 19. They kick off 2024 with a road contest against Box Elder on January 5. Home contests include Fort Benton January 6, North Star January 13, Big Sandy January 30, Box Elder February 2 and Hays/Lodge Pole February 9. Road contests include games at Hays/Lodge Pole January 12, Chester/Joplin-Inverness January 19, North Country (Whitewater) January 27, Fort Benton February 3 and North Star (Gildford) February 10. The district 9C Tournament will take place in Havre at the Blue Pony Gymnasium from February 14-17.
