Brian Newman, the Potterdome’s public address announcer, hit the words with a sledgehammer . . .
“And now . . . your . . . BACKKK! to BACKKKK!! to BACKKKKKK!!! . . . State champion Morton Lady Potters!”
And this was just an introduction during an exhibition, a practice session, really, an intrasquad scrimmage on a Red-White Night (or Cherry-Gray, if I must) a week before the Morton High School girls and boys begin their real basketball seasons.
Still, Newman was in mid-season form, more than once filling the building with his banshee-in-the-night cry celebrating a Potter shot made from beyond the arc, such as “Dowell, a threeeeEEEEEEEEEE!”
I liked every ounce of Newman’s energy, and I also liked the small, subtle, silent announcements high on the back of the Potters’ jerseys.
Under a line that read “State Champions,” there were these numbers . . .
2015
2016
2017
For all that, what I liked most is what I saw of the Potters on the court. The question the coach, Bob Becker, is asked most often is: Four in a row?
Once upon a time, Becker dreamed of getting a team to Redbird Arena. Then his team won a state championship, which was amazing. Then it repeated, astonishingly. And three-peated last year, which is why my third book in this unbelievable trilogy is entitled “The Unbelievables.” (The book is available at Eli’s, Potters’ home games, and at Mortonladypotters.com. Christmas is coming.)
As to what I saw – I saw good reason to think a fourth straight championship is possible.
I mean, why not? Yes, the Potters lost an all-stater, Brandi Bisping, a Division-1 recruit, the team’s fiery, combative heart. And they lost Jacey Wharram, a formidable, veteran force inside.
But one thing I’ve learned in watching the Potters for seven seasons now is that high school players are so young that with every passing year they become practically different people. They grow up. They get stronger in every way, mentally and physically.
So we might expect Tenley Dowell, a junior, to be more than she was last season, when she was sensational. Already four or five D-1 universities have her in their recruiting sights. Lindsey Dullard, a sophomore, grew in confidence at the end of her freshman year – and I’ve now seen her in a full-scale practice game against a pick-up team of high school boys, and I’ve seen her in last night’s scrimmage – and I can say it won’t be long before people who came to see Dowell will also take note of Dullard.
They’re both 6-footers who can shoot the threeeEEEEE!
“We’re going to score this year,” Becker has said.
And by that he means score a lot, which may be necessary because without Bisping and Wharram the Potters’ defense and rebounding may suffer. The good news is that he has a team of shooters. Four of the likely starting five – Dowell, Dullard, Josi Becker, Kassidy Shurman – are 3-point threats at any stage of a game. The fifth, Caylie Jones, is a good mid-range shooter.
Becker has been pleased with practices so far. “A great week,” he said after the Potters’ very first week. His only concern is building depth. He went eight deep last year. Right now, with Courtney Jones as the sixth man, Becker is looking for people to step up for the important seventh and eighth man roles.
Becker’s admitted search for depth tells you all that you really need to know about the Potters. Most high school girls teams are lucky to have two good players, one outstanding. To have three starters back from a state championship team, with three key reserves back from that same team, is to have an embarrassment of riches. To be worried about who’s your seventh and eighth man . . . well, that’s to be worried about very little, indeed.
Look at this. Out of habit, I started keeping notes of the first team’s scoring last night. In seven minutes of the first quarter, each starter had scored: Dullard from 15, Dullard a 3, Dowell a layup, Shurman a layup and free throw, Caylie Jones two 12-footers, Dowell a 3, Josie Becker a layup, Dowell a 3. It was 22-4.
They open at the Potterdome the morning after Thanksgiving. They’re ready.