Liberty girls hoops team enjoys fortune turnaround

After a dismal three-win season last year, little varsity experience returning, and a new head coach on the way, not a whole lot was expected from the Liberty High School girls basketball team this winter.

With the season barely a month old, though, the Lancers have shot to the top of the Bi-County standings and already have nearly doubled their win total from last season.

“They have so much heart,” said first-year head coach Christy Henning. “I’ve never had a team like this; they just want it so bad.

“I knew we could do it after watching them this summer. They put so much time in the off-season.”

Henning, who came to Liberty after serving as an assistant coach at Central Valley, credits the turnaround to the contributions and leadership of the six seniors on the team. While Katie Troyer, Cherice Piersol and Kara VanTine provide support from the bench, leading the way is four-year starting guard Jessica Hahner, who nearly gave up the game after Liberty’s frustrating season.

“The end of last year, I considered not turning out this year,” said Hahner. “I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t. We’re just having a ball. It’s so much fun.”

Hahner, who was as much a coach as a player on the floor last year, has seen her role downscaled by Henning to that of a leader by example this season.

“It’s really been a load off my shoulders,” Hahner said. “Coach still expects me to lead and direct, but not to be an extension of coach. It (the direction) comes from her, not from me, and it makes it so much easier.”

“She’s amazing,” said Henning. “The biggest thing with her is the kids will listen to her. She’s a positive leader. … She can take a team and make them good because they believe so much in her, and she believes in them.”

Perhaps two of the biggest reasons for the Lancers’ turnaround can be traced up front, as senior post players Shannon Davis and Kristin Crosby have reflected the team’s rise from the ashes. The 6-foot Davis, who transferred from Lewis and Clark High School after her freshman year, has battled the awkwardness of growing so fast, so young.

“I’ve always been just really uncoordinated because I’ve just been taller and haven’t had a chance to catch back up with myself,” said Davis.

“When I come up to do a jump stop, I’m running really fast, and when I try to stop, I just fall forward. I always have to take a step and catch my balance.

“This summer, my coach would take an extra half-hour after practice and taught me to slow down when I stop. I’m still not great at it. I like lay-ins better than the jump stop.”

“I remember this summer, we were doing five-man weaves, and we’d say last pass, two-foot jump stop,” Henning said. “She would catch the ball at a dead run and fall over every time. Every single time, she’d just fall over. She had no balance, and little coordination.

“Now, she comes out of the game, and you know, because of her presence inside. She’s developed a lot of really good post moves.

“She’s worked really hard on free throws and shooting a high percentage. Every thing she’s done has been instrumental in our success.”

Crosby, who has made the varsity for the first time after playing on the junior varsity the past three years, has also made giant strides and had to do so while learning a new position.

“I’m 5-foot-4 playing the post, and it’s pretty hard being really short,” said Crosby. “I love playing down low, and I work really hard. I played point guard – that’s all I ever played – until this summer. Then I became a post. You have a completely different look at the game.”

“Last year she maybe played in one (varsity) game as a junior,” Henning said. “This summer, she just worked so hard. She got into really good shape. She can’t come off the court.

“She’s the smartest basketball player we have on the team. She’s one of the smartest kids I’ve ever coached in terms of basketball knowledge.

“She’s 5-foot-4, and we throw her into the post, and she does well underneath. She can play any position on the floor. She has just been huge for us this year.”

The biggest difference, though, for the Lancers has been a unity among the team that was lacking in previous years.

“Last year, when we would mess up, we would look at it and we would blame each other,” Davis said. “We started doing that with our new coach, and she would get so angry at us.

“She told us we were a team and we’re there to encourage each other, not pick each other apart. We don’t fight at all anymore. It has helped tremendously.”

“The biggest difference is coach Henning has really made it that we get to spend time together, and get to know each other better,” Hahner said. “We just like each other better.

“We just have so much support from her, and we really appreciate it. We have so much more team bonding experiences. Everyone plays an important role, from the starters to the bench.”

“Everyone is able to keep everyone up and keep everyone going,” added Crosby. “It’s like a group of friends hanging out when we play.”