Lane Acord took over the head coaching position for the Greater Beckley girls team a year ago with very realistic expectations.
Acord understood rebuilding the Crusader program would take time at a school with very limited enrollment.
“Rebuilding is hard and taking (losses) is hard, but I truly believe we are on the right pace,” Acord said. “For the first time Greater Beckley Christian had both a middle school and high school team playing in the summer league. The buzz is out there and we have girls that want to be in the gym.”
While the numbers are good at the middle school and help is on the way, Greater Beckley will once again fight the numbers battle along with its opponent on the court.
“We have six girls on the roster with four that are returning. The positive part of last year was progress and improvement. Just look back at the games where we played teams twice,” Acord said. “Meadow Bridge beat us pretty bad in the first meeting down there. Here at home it was a one possession game with a minute to go. They were top-10 team. We were one possession way from winning the play-in game at Mount View. You try to sprinkle that into them to show we are improving.”
The Crusaders will need strong production from a pair of sophomores to be successful this season.
“Leah Adkins was the point guard last year. She was top-10 in scoring in single-A. We asked a lot out of her last year as a freshman,” Acord said. “Aislinn Pelfrey is my little spark plug and she can shoot. So far this year, she has matured so much and her body has caught up to her a little bit more. She has been shooting the lights out.”
Kaleigh Price was the third freshman starter last year. Price has the size of a guard, but she will monitor the paint for Greater Beckley this year.
“Kaleigh does a lot of good things. She is in the right place at the right time and will be my center this year, but she is only 5-foot-5,” Acord said. “Kaleigh boxes out well and doesn’t get herself out of place much. She stays under the basket a lot.”
The fourth returning player from last year is junior Emma Wilkerson.
“Emma was one we convinced to play last year,” Acord said. “She is a softball player that agreed to play and we appreciate her.”
A pair of sisters from Summers County, junior Braelyn Farrish and freshman Destyni Farrish, round out the roster. Both come to Beckley with a high basketball IQ according to Acord.
“Braelyn is a very good shooter and will be the starting point guard this year. She will handle ball and help take the load off of Leah,” Acord said. “Destyni was in middle school last year and she is a scorer. I was told she had four, 40-point games last year. She squares up really well and you can tell she knows what she is going. She is another guard.”
Size will be an issue for the Crusaders this year, but Acord also sees a positive in that regard.
“We are going to be at a disadvantage in height, but we will have an advantage with girls that will force bigger players to come out and guard them on the perimeter. If they don’t, we can hit 3’s and also drive right by them when they do,” Acord said. “We will be quick and try to pressure the ball up top. We will give up some stuff, but we will try to score quick. We will take the first available shot.”
Although the numbers are still an issue, Acord is not backing down in his quest to build a winning program.
“I feel like we can win 10-13 games this year. I beefed up the schedule. We did mostly single-A and double-A schools,” Acord said. “We will still play some of the Christian schools, but we need to play the teams in our region. We will have to be in shape, pray for no injuries and pray for no sickness.”
Greater Beckley opens on the road at Grace Christian on Dec. 3.
