SPRINGDALE — Just think of her outlook as guardedly optimistic.

Springdale Har-Ber girls basketball coach Sandy Wright won’t allow herself to get too excited too soon as she ponders the future. But she can’t ignore what she’s seen every day in practice, either.

The Lady Wildcats have won only 11 games each of the past two seasons, yet Wright has a hunch they could sneak up on opponents this year.

“We have a lot of potential,” Wright said. “But as my son says, that ‘p word’ — potential — is a coach’s favorite word. We need to do something with it. Our team is in a unique situation because we have a lot of new faces, but I’m really excited.”

Despite the upgrade in talent — which includes “a great sophomore class moving up,” Wright said — the preseason has challenged coaches and players alike.

Three transfers have joined the team since the start of the school year, making each practice a learning experience. Two sisters from Fayetteville Christian — senior Elizabeth Eubanks and sophomore Caroline Eubanks — transferred to Har-Ber, and sophomore Summer Morgan came over from Tahlequah, Okla.

All three should contribute this season, Wright said, especially because of the height they’ll add to the squad — Elizabeth Eubanks stands 5-foot-11, Morgan 6-foot and Caroline Eubanks 6-1.

“We’ll be the biggest team Har-Ber’s ever had,” Wright said. “Probably the biggest team I’ve ever coached. We have six players who are 5-11 or taller. Post has always been a problem with us, and now we have a bunch of posts. They’re going really hard against each other in practice.”

That effort hasn’t resulted in the formation of a complete comfort level yet, but the Wildcats have made progress, Halee Castleman said.

The 5-9 senior guard is Har-Ber’s lone full-time returning starter from a team that finished 4-10 in the 7A-West Conference last year. And she said she’s had to concentrate on remaining positive throughout the preseason as the new players have gotten acclimated to Har-Ber’s system.

“Surprisingly, I’m helping my teammates in practice a lot more than I expected to,” said Castleman, who will sign a Division I letter-of-intent Wednesday with Saint Louis University. “It’s been pretty rough because a huge part of our practices has been learning and teaching.

“When something doesn’t go right and coach is busy, they naturally just turn to me, and I’ve been fine with that.”

Wright said the Lady Wildcats developed a good deal of chemistry in the offseason when they traveled to summer camps at Harding University and in Florida. She said they lost only three games in those games, giving them plenty of positive vibes for the upcoming season.

But then, the transfers joined the squad. So new chemistry must be formed, Wright said.

“We’re young, and we don’t know each other that well yet, so I don’t know what to expect out of it,” Wright said. “But I have a feeling that we’ll be the kind of team that gets better as the year goes on. Practice has been a joy. They really get after it, and they have a great attitude.

“They’re anxious to get better, and the competition is steep.”

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.