Falcons to rely on many underclassmen

For its upcoming season, the Nation Ford Falcons girls’ basketball team looks to build on experience and talent coming back.

There are two seniors and two freshmen bracketing a roster full of sophomores and juniors.

“We are a very young team,” said head coach Tamara Washington. “It is hard to say who we are and who we will be right now.”

The Falcons were picked to finish near the bottom of the Region III standings, but Washington said that means the pressure is off of her team.

“We are keeping that in their faces, but there is no pressure on them,” she said.

Nation Ford finished 12-12 last season from a team that lost one senior to graduation. Washington has her squad practicing three days a week against boys who were cut from the JV and varsity teams.

“We have started recruiting guys to help keep their basketball IQ up,” Washington said. “We try to keep them in pressure situations. It recreates things we will see in game situations.”

In addition to being young, Nation Ford is not that tall either, using a lot of guards and forwards in the lineup. They have only one player more than 6 feet tall in junior Courtney Wells and six players who are either 5-foot-10 or 5-foot-11.

Sophomore Sami Tuipulotu and junior Haley Fulton are expected to lead the team. Junior Sydney Adams also returns this season. Junior Emma Starkey is expected to take over at the point with freshmen Ellona Moulds and Makayla Blackwell as her backups.

Nation Ford starts a little earlier than in the past, opening the season at home against Andrew Jackson Nov. 30. Tip-off is 6 p.m.

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Falcons to rely on many underclassmen."