​Eagles girls basketball incorporates talented underclassmen during summer workouts

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
 
The Grain Valley girls basketball team wrapped up their summer activities Friday with the Blue Springs-Grain Valley shootout.
 
In June, 22 Grain Valley basketball players participated in workouts and scrimmages to help get conditioned and prepared for the upcoming season in the winter.
 
“When you get that many here at 7:00am, that’s pretty good,” veteran head coach Randy Draper said with a smile “We have a lot of numbers here and our freshmen class has brought in a lot of kids that like to play.”
 
The Eagles were missing star forward Addy Seyfert, who is out with a broken ankle, and Madison Rust, a junior starting guard who is playing competitive softball.
 
That has allowed some of last year’s junior varsity players and some underclassmen to get more playing time during some of the summer scrimmages, such as the Pittsburg State camp the team attended last week.
 
The summer workouts and scrimmages have helped the underclassmen players get to know the upper classmen and build team chemistry.
 
“At the Pittsburg State camp, the girls stay together on the same dorm floor,” Draper said. “They get tired together and they get to know each other. That’s good for all our new freshmen.”
 
Sophia Epping is of those freshmen who have impressed coaches and other players during the summer. She is a combo guard who has shown her ability to be a good playmaker and outside shooter.
 
“Sophia has been with us, and she has been playing really well,” junior Bella Bollinger said. “She was in our starting five at Pitt State. We only lost one of our starters from last year, so we are returning four out of our five starters, which I think is good.”
 
Draper also raved about his freshman.
 
“Sophia fits right in with the juniors and seniors and they know she can help them win some games this coming season,” Draper said. “She’s a skilled player and she has a feel for the game. She knows how to get open and how to find open players. She can shoot the ball. Sophia Epping is the freshman that will play varsity.”
 
At the Pittsburg State camp and throughout the summer, Grain Valley got a good idea what style of play the team will have this winter even without two of their starters.
 
“We are still going to have a really good defense,” senior Aspen Reed said. “We are still quick. We will probably still be getting up quickly. 
 
“I think we are still going to be a really fast team, and we have some good shooters.”
 
Bollinger agreed.
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“I think right now, we are seeing what everyone can do,” Bollinger said. “We played some good teams at Pitt State and played against some girls who were Division I commits. We ended up winning some of those games, so we played well. 
 
“I think we are still a team that are going to get a lot of points in transition. We are going to run a lot of plays for quick shots.”

Photo credit: Michael Smith