1. sports
2. basketball

APRIL 2015
Basketball - More Than “Just A Game”
Sobbing in the locker room with my teammates after
a heartbreaking tournament loss will always be a vivid
memory. I was a senior and I wasn’t ready for the
season to come to a sudden end. In that moment,
I realized I will never again get to represent Louisville
and play with my teammates who were by my side
since elementary school. As an 18 year old, I viewed
this as the end of a journey, rather than a stepping
stone in the path of life. My career as a Lady Leopard
was over, but what the game taught me will forever
live on.
To me, the definition of basketball is more than just
a game. It is through basketball that I have learned
leadership, accountability, discipline, and diligence. It
is through basketball that I have built friendships that
will last a lifetime. It is through basketball that I have
learned how to persevere through challenges. It is
through basketball that I have learned dedication and
friendly competition. As an 18 year old, it was basketball
that prepared me for life as an adult.
From the time I was a young girl, I aspired to be a Lady
Leopard. From dribbling my first basketball in the base“TO
ME, THE DEFINITION OF BASKETBALL IS MORE
THAN JUST A GAME. IT IS THROUGH BASKETBALL
THAT I HAVE LEARNED LEADERSHIP, ACCOUNTABILITY, DISCIPLINE, AND DILIGENCE.”
ment to many driveway games with my dad and friends,
from YMCA teams to middle school teams, from camps
to one-on-one private lessons in the hot summer sun,
basketball was a large part of my life. The many years
of playing basketball with my teammates were unforgettable. The finest moments were cutting down the nets
continued on page 4
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Coach’s Corner
Expectations = Sacrifice ?
DO YOUR EXPECTATIONS EQUAL YOUR SACRIFICE?
On game day expectations are always high. Everyone on the team expects to win, start, and be the
leading scorer. These are all great expectations players should have, but is their something more to being
a great basketball player than expectations?
Anyone that is playing at a high level will tell you that
being a great basketball player requires great sacrifice. It requires hours of hard work in the gym when
no one else wants to be there because it is too hot.
It takes countless hours of dribbling and shooting
when you would rather be out with your friends. It
takes setting goals that normal people think are unrealistic and then reaching those goals.
A sacrifice is a loss or something you give up, for the
sake of a better cause. Nothing in this world worth
anything comes without hard work and sacrifice. It is
a nice start when every member of a team has high
expectations, but the great teams have athletes that
take it one step further and make sacrifices for the
team.
The expectations for the 2015-2016 Lady Leopard
Basketball Season are high. Coaches, parents,
fans, and athletes all expect to be great! I guess the
real question is how great can we be? I cannot be
prouder of how we finished the 2014-2015 basketball season. Winning our last 6 out of 7 games
and almost knocking off the number one team in the
state in the tournament. However, the 2014-2015
season is in the past and with each season’s end,
you are one step closer to playing your last basketball
game as a Lady Leopard Basketball player. How will
you be remembered as a Lady Leopard Basketball
Player?
We have a very talented group of athletes returning
this year, but talent and expectations can only take
us so far. I encourage each and every Lady Leopard
Basketball Player to set your goals high this summer. Then make the sacrifices needed to meet those
goals, not only for yourself but more importantly for
the team!
WILL YOUR EXPECTATIONS EQUAL YOUR SACRIFICE?
Coach McCully ☺
ANNOUNCEMENTS
7th GRADE LADY LEOPARDS 8th GRADE LADY LEOPARDS
2014-2015
2014-2015
9-9
19-0
The seventh grade girls finished the year with a 9 and
9 win loss record. Coming into the year I had real no
expectations because I had nothing to compare this
coaching endeavor to, as this was my first year as a
girls’ head coach, and it was their first time playing
together as a group of 15. When we started the year, I
spoke to the girls about the one thing that was in there
control, EFFORT. I reminded them daily that 100% effort was expected and if that was not being given, they
were hurting the player standing next to them.
After our first game against West Branch, I knew scoring was going to be our biggest challenge. So my focus
became play good defense, and hopefully we could
score enough to gain some wins. As I told the girls
after that game, the West Branch coach said that will
be the best defense we will face all year. If we were
able to hold our opponents to under 30 points, it usually
translated into a victory. So as the season progressed,
we kept the same theme of demanding a perfect effort
and playing for each other. With this theory, we were
able to gain one of our most improbable wins when we
faced Minerva. Down 26-12 entering the fourth, I told
the girls that we were going to play that last 6 minutes
with a perfect effort and that we would need to double
our score plus two and hold Minerva to zero just to tie.
Giving up was not an option. As we all witnessed, the
team rallied together, and we came away with one of
the most exciting wins of my coaching career, a 29-27
This season brought a lot of unexpected events this year! We
had two ice events, one that canceled a scrimmage, and numerous school closings that canceled practices and rescheduled
games. However, along the way the girls found a way to stay
focused and finished 19-0 and became NBC Champions, finishing their MS career as back-to-back NBC Champions finishing
with a 37 & 1 record.
Lady Leopards Summer Camp (Going Into Grades 1-8) is Monday, June 8th Thursday, June 11th. This will be for girls going into grades 1-8. The camp registration forms will be given to your athletes teacher to hand out during school. All
registration forms are due by May 20th.
Elementary and Middle School Open Gyms (Going Into Grades 5-8) Open gyms
will be @ Louisville Middle School. We are still working on the dates and times. We
will have a meeting for all middle school athletes to pass out schedules. Notebooks will be handed out at the first open gym. If you cannot make it and would
like a summer notebook, please contact Coach McCully. If you are a current 4th
or 5th grader and you would like a schedule, please e-mail Coach McCully at
the e-mail below. Open gym schedules will be available in May.
Middle School Meeting (Going Into Grades 7-8) We will be holding a basketball
meeting in April to handout summer schedules and go over important information. Please be sure to listen to the announcements for further information on the
meeting. If you cannot attend for some reason, please contact Coach McCully for
important information that was given out at the meeting.
Middle School Louisville League (Going Into Grades 7-8) We will be holding our
middle school league at Louisville Middle School on Tuesday evenings from 6:308:30. We will be playing schools from around the area. A schedule will be given
to the players when it becomes available. We will either have one mixed team
of 7th and 8th or we will have one 7th and one 8th. It will all depend on how
many girls are able to make it on Tuesday evenings. We will be asking the
girls to sign up during the middle school meeting.
Middle School Eastern Ohio Camp (Going Into Grades 7-8) Eastern Ohio basketball camp for the middle school will be Sunday, June 28th - Tuesday, June 30th.
We will pass out information about the camp at the middle school meeting. We will
leave from the High School on June 28th early in the morning. We need drivers. If
you can help transport, please e-mail Coach McCully.
High School Meeting (Going Into Grades 9-12) We will be holding a basketball
meeting towards the end of April to pass out summer information and schedules.
If you cannot attend for some reason, please contact Coach McCully for important
information that was given out at the meeting.
High School Green League (Going Into Grades 9-12) We will be playing at Green
High School, both JV and Varsity, every Monday night in June from 5:00-7:00.
High School Jackson League (Going Into Grades 9-12) We will be playing at
Jackson High School, both JV and Varsity, every Wednesday night in June from
5:30-7:30, except Wednesday, June 24th which is the day we leave for Eastern Ohio Basketball Camp.
High School Eastern Ohio Camp (Going Into Grades 9-12) Eastern Ohio basketball camp for the high school will be Wednesday, June 24th - Friday, June 26th. I
will pass out information about the camp at the high school meeting. We will leave
from the High School on June 24th early in the morning. We need drivers. If you
can help transport, please e-mail Coach McCully.
E-mail Questions To: [email protected]
continued on page 4
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The girls’ success started back in the summer! We had great attendance at all of the open gyms, instructional days, and basketball camp! I cannot lie that when the season began, there were
some lofty expectations, and I wanted to make sure I did not
make a mistake! I wanted to make sure all of the girls showed
growth, learned the “new” offense and played to the best of their
abilities, and they did! Two of the things that this group of girls
did really well was get the rebound and get the ball out in transition. There were many games that we just out hustled teams
and beat them down the floor!
Some statistics from this season: The girls scored 814 points
to our opponent’s 404 points! Our average margin of victory
was 21 points! Our largest victory was by 50 points over Alliance, and our smallest victory was by 6 over West Branch in the
tournament. We played our traditional NBC Schedule, as well as
non-league opponents Massillon and Jackson. As we expected
because of our talent level, a lot of teams jumped into a zone
against us, so we had to learn to find the soft spots and make
good shots! Our average team floor shooting percentage was
34%, and our average team foul shooting percentage was 48%!
Coach Evans 8th Grade Girls Basketball Coach
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LADY LEOPARDS SPEAK OUT
Sabryna
Benzel
I am really looking forward to the
2015-16 season! Summer this
year is going to be really important to our game and success
this coming season. If everyone
works hard and completes their
notebooks, we are going to be a
difficult team to beat. I am looking forward to the amount of girls that will be coming to our
summer workouts. The more time we can put in during the
summer, the better the whole team will be by the start of the
season. I am also really excited for EOBC!! It is a great time
to bond as a team, and many friendships are made during
this camp. I think that we are going to have a great year with
the amount of girls moving up to the high school team. We
also have no one graduating, so we will be able to build off of
the team that we have now. I am most excited about getting
to play with the new girls joining the high school team! The
strength that we have as a team should lead us to a NBC
Championship, and more, for the 2015-16 season!
Youth Teams End Season - “The Future Looks Brigtht”
Sarah Lairson
This team of ours has the potential to do great things in the
upcoming season. This belief of
mine has come from the tightlyknotted friendships we have, the
strengths that each individual
brings to the table, our workethic, and the passion that my
teammates and I possess. The
practices have just begun for us Lady Leopards basketball
players, for our off season is full of a notebook outline from
Coach McCully, open gyms, and summer camps. To reach
our potential is only possible with our summers containing
long hours in the gym, countless shots, dribbles, passes,
and pick-up games. Our heart and love for the game are
what sets us apart from the rest, and our dedication will position us for achieving greatness.
Above: 3/4th Grade Travel Team
Grades 3-4 Travel
Ten Lady Leopards played in the 2014-2015 4th grade
girls youth basketball League at Barberton High School.
They finished their season 6-8, making it to the second round of the tournament at Barberton. They also
competed in the Lake HS shootout tournament where
they went 2-2 in a pool play tournament. It was a great
season for the girls. They worked very hard and are all
excited for next year. Coach Weaver
Abby Beaver
After working together to achieve
a winning season and accomplish many team goals, it has left
the Lady Leopards with a strong
foundation and a common goal
for next season. It begins with
winning the league and ends with
two victories in Columbus. The
support of our fans and community will help us reach our
goal. To improve as a team, it is going to take each person
to put forth the time and effort in the off-season to become a
stronger player. We need to take advantage of the gym time,
summer league, and lifting. It is important to work together
during this summer, but it is also essential to work on the
notebook as an individual. We are only going to be as good
as our dedication and determination.
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Above: 6th Grade Travel Team
Congratulations to the 6th grade girls on their basketball season this year. The Lady Leps went 6-2 in the
Barberton league this year and lost in the semifinals to
Barberton. In the Minerva tournament, the Lady Leps
went 4-0 and took home the trophy. The whole season
was a success, all the girls improved from beginning to
end and had a great time developing their skills. Overall their seasonal record was 10-2. “These girls put a
lot of heart In to the sport and the outcome was very
rewarding,” says the two coaches of the team.” I want to
wish these girls the best of luck in their future basketball
careers with a great Louisville program. Go Leps!!!
Coach Bast
Above: 5th Grade Travel Team
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continued from page 1 -
Basketball - More Than “Just A Game”
as NBC Champions in 2006 and 2007, a feat that was
dreamt about since middle school and that finally put
Lady Leopards Basketball back on the map.
As much as I would give anything to play as a Lady
Leopard one more time, I am proud to return to the program as a coach. It is my hope that these young ladies
will experience all that basketball has to offer and, in
turn, will continue the tradition of Lady Leopards Basketball.
Kelsie Harmon
Class Of 2007
continued from page 7 7th Grade Season
victory. As a coach, you hope you have the ability to
get your athletes to be selfless and focus on the team
first. I believe I was able to get these young ladies to do
just that. No matter how small their role in the game,
each girl did what was asked for the good of the group.
I will always remember this team as one that never
backed down from a challenge and one that believed
that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.
Thank you for a great season and I really look forward to
having the opportunity to work with you over the coming summer months and next season where I hope you
will build on what I taught you this year: PLAY FOR THE
PERSON NEXT TO YOU BECAUSE THEY ARE THE MOST
IMPORTANT PERSON ON THE TEAM.
Team members were:
Special thanks to Chad Weaver for his help at practices
and his willingness to record all of our games so I could
see what we were doing well and what we needed to
work on. He also put together the DVD of the girls that
they received at their awards night.
Jerry Fresenko 7th Grade Girls Basketball Coach
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X-TREME CLUB TOTALS 2014
SHOOTING
BALL HANDLING
1, 000 Shots Made
5 Hours
Hannah Ohman - 1,040
Kayla Gibson - 1,075
Bethany Haskell - 1,304
Brooke Weaver - 1,512
Megan Dorosky - 1,727
Cassidy Kiko - 1,928
Hanna Lautzenheiser - 2,179
Brooke Flanigan - 2,287
Karli Redinger - 2,335
Alexa Oberster - 2,465
Morgan Cole - 3,032
Sabryna Benzel - 3,922
Kayla Gibson - 4 hrs. 20 min.
Hannah Ohman - 4 hrs. 35 min.
Alexa Oberster - 4 hrs. 45 min.
Hailey Miller - 6 hrs. 40 min.
Erin Hahn - 7 hrs. 59 min.
Hanna Lautzenheiser - 8 hrs.
Morgan Cole - 8 hrs 45 min.
Sabryna Benzel - 9 hrs. 5 min.
.
5, 000 Shots Made
Karli Miller - 6,059
Emily Fresenko - 6,151
Erin Hahn - 6,171
Izzy Rich - 6,310
Maggie Galentine - 6,637
7, 000 Shots Made
10 Hours
Brooke Weaver - 10 hrs. 35 min.
Emily Fresenko - 11 hrs. 22 min.
Brooke Flanigan - 14 hrs. 20 min.
Megan Dorosky - 14 hrs. 50 min.
Emma Ramsey - 14 hrs. 50 min.
15 Hours
Karli Redinger - 17 hrs. 05 min.
Karli MIller - 19 hrs. 12 min.
Jenna Agnone - 7,532
Hailey Miller - 7,695
25 Hours
10, 000 Shots Made
Emily Shea - 23 hrs. 45 min.
Alex Beaver - 25 hrs.
Cassidy Kiko - 28 hrs.
Kaitlyn Kennedy - 10,375
Emily Shea - 10,961
Sarah Lairson - 12,930
Alex Beaver - 20,000
Abby Beaver - 25,000
Maggie Galentine - 29 hrs. 49 min.
30 Hours
Abby Beaver - 30 hrs.
Sarah Lairson - 30 hrs.
Jenna Agnone - 32 hrs.
Bethany Haskell - 34 hrs.
Izzy Rich - 35 hrs. 30 min.
Kaitlyn Kennedy - 44 hrs. 35 min.
Great job to all of the players
listed above that put so much
time into their game this past
summer! Keep up the hard
work! - Coach McCully
Above: Grades 1-2 Summer Campers & Coaches
Elementary/Middle School Basketball Summer Opportunities
Once again it is time to start gearing up for summer
basketball. The Lady Leopards will be holding their
annual summer youth basketball camp for girls in kindergarten through eighth grade at Louisville High School
starting Monday, June 8th - Thursday, June 11th. The
schedule is as follows:
Girls entering grades 1-2 will go 8:30-9:30.
Girls entering grades 3-5 will go 10:00-12:00
Girls entering grades 6-8 will go 1:00-3:15
The Lady Leopards Basketball Camp is designed to
teach the fundamentals of the game of basketball.
Through the use of station work, contests, 1/1, 2/2,
3/3, 4/4, and 5/5, the campers will be taught how to
become better dribblers, shooters, passers, finishers,
defenders, and rebounders. We want all campers to
learn about the game and have fun doing it.
All campers will receive a T-shirt and another camp item
to be determined. A camp brochure has been distributed by your daughter’s teacher at school. The deadline for registration will be Wednesday, May 20th. We
will accept late registration and registration at the
door but we cannot guarantee that your athlete
will receive any camp items.
Another great opportunity for any players that are going
into grade 7 and 8 is Eastern Ohio basketball camp.
This is an overnight camp in which girls go to work
on their skills and compete against some of the best
competition in the state of Ohio. We divide the girls up
into teams when we get to camp. Each team is then
coached by a member of the Lady Leopard Basketball
coaching staff. If you are interested in more information please contact Coach McCully.
We will also be holding open gyms throughout the summer at the middle school for any girls entering grades
4-8. You can come to as many as you would like.
Schedules for open gyms will come out closer to summer.
If you are interested in any of the above opportunities or have questions please contact Coach
McCully by email at:
[email protected]
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