In his third year at Bluefield, veteran head coach Ernie Gilliard is trying to rebuild the girls program at Bluefield. Graduations of several all-staters over the last five years have made that difficult for a program that played for a state championship in 2017.
That means the youth movement is in full effect.
“We lost some of that size we had last year,” Bluefield head coach Ernie Gilliard said. “One of our seniors decided to focus on her academics. We do have Beyonka Lee returning and she was probably our most proficient post scorer. But once again we’re extremely young. I only have one senior, one junior and four sophomores. We currently have 15 kids on the team so you can do the math on how many freshmen I have. They have a lot to learn in terms of what it means to represent Bluefield High School in athletics. When they grasp that it’s going to help them be a really competitive group of kids.”
With the amount of underclassmen Gilliard is rostering, the team is a work in progress on offense. He admits they need refinement but it’s also shined some light on their strengths.
“It’s going to have to be our defensive play,” Gillaird said. “We’re going to be a little quicker than we have in the past. It’s going to have to be defensive play and our quickness that’s our strength. The key for us is going to be our guard play without a doubt.”
The Beavers have been blessed with size in years past but struggled at guard with a younger crop of players. Cara Brown, a sophomore this year, handled most of those duties but figures to move off ball as she’s grown this year.
“Actually it’s going to be a transition year for Cara because she’s moving to the wing,” Gilliard said. “That gives her a chance to score for us. She will be called on to assist with the ball handling against pressure defenses because she makes pretty good decisions. She’s got a little length so that helps her seal overtop of a lot of trapping situations we may face, but without a doubt she’ll probably have to be one of our key players this year. We’ll look at her to contribute some scoring and key leadership.”
That leaves an opening at point guard and Gilliard believes he has two capable players battling for the spot.
“Right now we have two young ladies vying for it,” Gillaird said. “Right now the one that’s looking the best is the lone junior in Adrian Brown. She’s had some impressive practice sessions here but she’s a work in progress and learning every day. At this point in time we’re pretty pleased with what she’s doing. I don’t think the cupboard is bare, the kids just have to learn their roles. But there’s a freshman that’s relatively impressive in Melania Hades. She’s doing a pretty good job but once again, the learning curve is pretty big. She was quicker and faster than some of the kids in middle school and now she’s competing against some sophomores, juniors and seniors. She’s going to have to do a better job of reading the floor as a point guard would. She’s going to be a very good player though.”
In order to return the program to the spot it was in four years ago, Gilliard needs commitment from his younger players who are still learning the game and what’s required at the high school level. As of now, that’s the team’s biggest obstacle.
“I think just understanding the commitment and grasping onto that idea is our biggest challenge,” Gilliard said. “We need to be fully committed to the process of working to get better. That’s probably my biggest concern. I’m very confident in these kids but right now the learning curve is just so big that it could be quite ugly early.”
Still, the goal always remains the same – win a state championship and take steps along the way.
“We want to win our section,” Gilliard said. “That’s No. 1. That will afford the opportunity to at least consider getting to the state tournament without a doubt. That’s every team’s goal at this point in time. I wouldn’t be much of a coach if I didn’t say that’s one of our goals. Not just to get there but to try to win the state tournament. As I say the learning curve is large though.”
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