Hopes are high for the upcoming 2021-22 basketball season for the Marlboro County High Lady Bulldogs.
Coach Leah Zimmerman said the team “looks pretty good” with several returners. The team has one senior and one early graduate.
“So our numbers, as far as what we project for the next couple of years, is going to look pretty good for us,” she said.
The team did lose one of its leading shotmakers, Jasmine Norman, who graduated in June.
“(She) was an easy 20 points per game,” Zimmerman said. “I do feel confident enough that we do have girls that will make up for the points lost.”
One thing that the team is working on is chemistry.
Zimmerman noted the players have been playing together for a couple of years and most are juniors.
“They have good chemistry so we are continuing to build on that,” Zimmerman said.
Each player has set individual goals, based on the coaches’ observations, to work on during the season.
Last season, a couple of team members had COVID-19, which put the team in quarantine twice.
“We ended up not making it to the playoffs because of rules in place at that time,” she said.
As a coach, Zimmerman’s goal is for the team to make it to the playoffs and ultimately to win games.
The first scrimmage for the team is Thursday at Trinity Collegiate in Darlington.
For Zimmerman, the focus will be on the team to build and create opportunities for them.
“If we go out and execute the things we are supposed to do, I think we will be pretty set,” she said.