by Seneca Contomanolis
DigitalSports Richmond
Losing your top two scorers who led you to the Central Region semifinals is never an easy thing for a team to rebound from.
But Monacan coach Larry Starr hopes he has the players to fill the void created by the graduation of his daughter Meredith Starr and Carrie Saunders.
“That is two big losses,” Starr said. “They were leaders and good outside shooters but we do have some kids that should be able to fill-in.”
A player who doesn’t need any fill-ins just yet is senior Rachel Robinson. The 6-0 forward, headed to George Mason to play basketball, is coming off of a season in which she averaged 11.1 ppg and 7 rpg for the Chiefs, ranked second in the DigitalSports Top 10 preseason poll.
“She is very athletic and has a great attitude,” Starr said. “She can post up but is more of a face to the basket player. She can jump out of the gym and because of that brings down a lot of rebounds.”
Point guard Emari Ready (4.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg) is a two-year starter who after the season will further her career playing at Lees-McRae College in North Carolina.
“We will be looking for her to make good decisions,” Starr said. “She has been my two-guard the past two seasons. She is a good ball handler and defender.”
Leadership will also come from junior Abbie Gray who has been the sixth-man for the Chiefs the past two seasons but will be asked to increase her offensive output this year. She is a very strong on-the-ball defender.
After those three the team gets very young as Starr plans to give five sophomores and one freshman substantial playing time in a system of subbing five players at a time. Because of this the Chiefs’ depth could be key to their success. Two sophomores that will have the most impact will be Candice Silas and Mackenzie Warren.
Silas, known as ‘Animal’ for her aggressive rebounding tactics, is a 6-0 forward who led the team in rebounds as a freshman with 8.3 rpg and also averaged 6.9 ppg. Warren (5-11, forward) is coming off knee surgery and is not at full strength yet.
Starr said one of the team’s weaknesses will be its overall youth but he also thinks it could be a positive as the season progresses.
“We have a mixture of youth and experience. The older players that have been around will help the younger ones,” Starr said. “We are still making mistakes but that will hopefully be fixed.”
Monacan has not won a district regular season title in three years but was the district tournament champ this past season. Starr knows doing that again will be not be an easy task.
“In the Dominion you have to come and play hard every night,” Starr said. “The district title is a big goal for us but we are taking it one step at a time.”
2006-07 record: 13-3 Dominion, 22-5
Coach: Larry Starr, third season with Monacan, 40-13
Key players:
Rachel Robinson, 6-0, Sr., F – very athletic, usually plays with face to the basket, good defender
Emari Ready, 5-6, Sr., G – good defender and ball handler
Abbie Gray, 5-5, Jr., G – great on the ball defender
Candice Silas, 6-0, Soph., F – tremendous rebounder
Mackenzie Warren, 5-11, Soph., F
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