Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008

Big things expected from Nashville Hornettes

Girls team tops small school preseason poll

NASHVILLE -- The Nashville Hornettes will be good. With that, there is no debate.

Buoyed by several key returnees and a platoon of tall, talented underclassmen, the Hornettes were voted the No. 1-ranked team in the News-Democrat Small-School girls basketball preseason poll by area coaches.

Nashville coach Wayne Harre said whether the Hornettes are worthy of the ranking depends on the work ethic of his players.

"I definitely think we have a pretty good chance of being pretty good, but do we get there or not?" Harre said. "That's kind of up to how hard we want to get after it and work.

"I think we do have a chance to be pretty good, but I've seen it before where people have a chance to be good but are average. Hopefully, that won't happen."

Given the Hornettes' track record under Harre, Nashville likely will be anything but average.

Since Harre took over in the 2000-01 season, the Hornettes have a 215-39 record, averaging 27 wins and four losses per season, and have advanced to the Elite Eight four times.

Last year, the Hornettes were 22-8, which is the least wins for a season under Harre. Nashville didn't have a big-time scorer -- only one player averaged double-figures in scoring -- but they never do.

At Nashville, defense is the key that unlocks the door to success. The Hornettes routinely hold teams in the low 30s and force more than 10 turnovers.

"I know we don't play the most exciting brand of basketball, and I understand that," Harre said. "We just can't. We have to try and win any which way we can here, and that's the way we've done it in the past.

"Do I like playing that way? No, I wish we could run up and down the floor. Maybe we'll be able to run this year, and maybe we won't. We'll find out in a hurry here these first two weeks."

The Hornettes' top two returnees are 5-foot-9 senior forward Tierney McKay, who averaged 9.1 points per game last season, and 5-8 senior guard Haley Fark (6.4 ppg).

Nashville will sport one of the biggest interiors around with 6-1 senior Kayla Scharr, 6-0 junior Mackenzie Newman and 5-11 sophomore Jennifer Moeller.

"We are big, I'm not going to lie," Harre said. "I like to have that, but at the same time, you have to play a certain way when you are a big team. We do have good size all the way around. Hopefully, we'll be able to handle people who aren't as big as us and are quicker."

Harre believes this team could be one of the most balanced of his tenure, with solid scoring productions coming from five or six players, not just two or three.

It also could be one of the deepest with juniors Reena Ruggles and Annie Borowiak and sophomores Melanie Rhine and Jenna Morris providing multiple scoring options.

"I think we have quite a bit of balance," Harre said. "We're not going to have anything like the boys had last year with (Tommy) Pelczynski. I think we'll have a lot of balance, and that's really good. Teams can't key on any one person."

Nashville's early schedule will give Harre a good idea of his team's potential. The Hornettes open with Wesclin on Thursday, then will take part in the Nashville Thanksgiving Tournament next week.

The Hornettes are in the same pool with Freeburg, Okawville and Greenville. Freeburg, Okawville and Wesclin were among the top five teams ranked in the News-Democrat small-school poll.

"Our first five games are against quality people," Harre said. "I was telling our team, we could start 5-0 or 0-5. We have to be ready to go right from the start. In girls basketball, you just don't know what you got until you start playing other people.

"I think with boys, you always have a better idea of how good you're going to be. I don't think with girls you have an idea until you start playing the better people around."

Contact reporter Rod Kloeckner at rkloeckner@bnd.com or 239-2663.