Lady Pats strive for improvement

Ellender girls’ basketball coach Kenneth Dixon knows good basketball when he sees it. He’s coached countless elite teams in his storied career.

His 2011 squad isn’t at that level yet.

The coach believes the right ingredients are in place for a heck of a season before long in the House of Pain.

With the prep basketball season beginning to heat up throughout the Tri-parishes, the Lady Patriots believe they have what it takes to rise above last year’s first round playoff exit and make waves in Class 4A.

They reinforced that point this past week in their home tournament, taking home second place, losing only to defending Class 3A state champion St. James in the finals in a game that was decided by just 1 point.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do,” Dixon said. “But we’ll be able to get it done.”

The work Dixon needs to “get done” will involve a mix of three things; scheme, experience and leadership.

Schematically, the Lady Patriots are not a big team. They are actually probably the smallest in the Tri-parish area.

With their lack of size, they play an up-tempo, run and gun style.

“At practice, [Dixon] runs us,” sophomore Amari Banks said with a laugh. “We run every practice up and down the court. That helps a lot.”

“That’s basically what we look forward to,” junior Netikie Johnson added. “We’re short, so we let speed make up for everything else.”

With a tempo that produces a lot of possessions, Dixon said to take the next step his team needs to learn to be efficient.

Against St. James, Ellender was anything but, squandering several layups and free throws, while also turning over the ball more than 20 times.

“Wasted possessions,” Dixon said. “We’re going up and down the floor for nothing. We have to eliminate turnovers. I’m thinking we’re trying to do a little bit too much. We have to keep it simple. How I’m going to get them to do that, that’s what I don’t know yet.”

Another step toward efficiency comes on the glass.

Because the Lady Patriots are so small, Dixon and his players believe one of the keys to the team’s season will come through rebounding.

“Boxing out,” Johnson said definitively when asked where the team must improve. “We definitely have to keep getting better at that.”

“I’m not a tall coach , we don’t have really any tall players on the team,” Dixon added. “My tallest girl is a freshman Kiara Scott. She’s just 14 years old. We have to do those little things to fill that void.”

Even if the team polishes up its scheme, experience or lack thereof will be something the team will need to overcome.

Last year, the Lady Patriots were one of the youngest teams in the Tri-parish area; a fact that ultimately doomed the team when it faced tougher competition.

This year, Ellender is still underclassman laden, but they do have that full year of growing pains to lean on.

Having that year of experience is invaluable, according to players who say they are no longer overwhelmed by being varsity basketball players.

“This year, our shots are better, we’re taking better shots,” Johnson said. “We’re learning to play with each other. We’re bonding well. We just have to keep playing hard.”

“We’re just more mature this year,” Banks said.

Dixon said the thing his team now needs to do before district play is to find leadership.

Against St. James, Ellender led for most of the game, but faltered late; something the coach said shows someone needs to assume leadership of the team.

Dixon said he has an idea in his head who can emerge from his locker room, but he didn’t share names. He added that the reason the process is taking a while is because some of the team’s best players are underclassmen and are deferring to some of the team’s older players.

“I’m designating who I think the leaders should be,” Dixon said. “But right now, they don’t want it out of respect to those upperclassmen. I do go to those girls, too, for them to lead, but they are limited in terms of what they can do. We’re still just trying to do too much on our own. We can’t do that right now.”

With preseason rolling into December, the Lady Patriots have a month to polish their shortcomings. Ellender is in a district with both Assumption and Vandebilt; programs expected to qualify for the playoffs.

But don’t forget Ellender. They think they’ll be in the mix, as well.

Who knows? With a little polish, they just may emerge in the top of the pack.

“Just keep it simple and take your best shot,” Dixon said. “If we do that, we’ll be OK.”

“We’re going to make a run at state this year,” Banks added. “We’ve got this.”

“We’re not settling for a first-round loss this year,” Johnson said. “We’re going to try and get better every year. Who knows? We just might surprise people.”

Dixon wouldn’t be among those surprised.

He knows good basketball when he sees it. He knows this team can be special.

Ellender sophomore Amari Banks contorts her body for a wild shot during last week’s game with St. James. Banks and the Lady Patriots are trying to take the next step in their progression after reaching the playoffs last season. CASEY GISCLAIR