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Becca Self drives against Lauren Smith during a preseason practice. Photo by Jessa Pease.
Briarwood Christian School is celebrating its 50-year history.
Coach Jim Brown hasn’t been at the school that long, but you’d be excused if you thought he had. In his 33 years at the school, Brown has held a variety of positions, but it’s as girls basketball coach he’s served the longest.
Brown begins his 22nd as head coach of the girls varsity, posting a 387-212 record. If his Lady Lions come together, Brown might get to celebrate that milestone 400th win this season.
“We’ve got a nice little core of players coming back,” Brown said of the returnees from a 10-16 season. “A couple of pretty good seniors come back, and we’ve got a nice class of juniors.”
Seniors Abby Parks and Lindy Sumerford bring back some starting experience. Parks, who played the “two” position and Sumerford, who played the “three” in Brown’s offense are joined by the team’s leading returning scorer, Molly McKenzie.
Brown said last year’s team didn’t score a lot of points, but he’ seen improvement. He also thinks this year’s team might be more athletic than last year’s. There are several junior varsity players moving up who would aid in that, but it will take time for that to develop.
What the Lady Lions don’t have is size. Only one girl on the roster tops 6 feet. “We’re going to be half the size of almost everybody we play. We’re not as big or as physical as everybody we’ll play against.
“We’re going to need to be a pretty good perimeter team,” Brown said. “If we are, it changes the complexion of our team. We need to improve our 3-point percentage and also our free-throw percentage. Our most experience is on the perimeter, so I believe right now we’ll be a perimeter-oriented team.”
Last year’s 10-16 record wasn’t what Brown wanted, but he said the record is a little deceiving.
“We were competitive most of the time. Little things would beat us.”
Going into this season, Brown is optimistic, and he is looking forward to working with them through the season to get better.
“I like the chemistry of this team and the way they like each other. They play really hard. I like their work habits and work ethic. We want to be competitive and get after you. If we do that, I think everything else will fall into place.
“I expect pretty good things out of them.”
