By Kevin Libby
LowcoSports.com
As the great Allen Iverson once said, “We’re talking about practice. Not talking about the game.”
Iverson went on to say “practice” several more times, adding a few drops of disgust with each utterance. But after a fifth consecutive loss at home Saturday against Flagler, USCB women’s basketball coach Sharon Versyp took a different tone and was explicit about the way back to the win column.
“Our team needs to practice, and we weren’t able to practice,” Versyp said, citing the disruption of winter weather in the Lowcountry last week. “We’re a long way away. We need a lot of practice.”
There is no substitute for repetition in training. Rhythm is a product of consistency. If you want to be a good shooter, practice shooting, especially after cardio; the biggest shots come when players are fatigued but their heart rates are elevated. If you want to be a great passer, learn the rhythm of your teammates with hours of summer pick-up ball and take pride in the no-look feed. If you’re going to recover from a torn ACL, crush leg press for a year then slowly work your way back onto the court.
Last season, Lydia Gattozzi was on leg press duty and in recovery. Now in her second season as a Sand Shark, the Catwoman’s weight room fever dreams are playing out in real-time.
A 44 percent shooter this season, Gattozzi has averaged over 15 points these past five games while attracting the focus of opposing defenses. Catwoman is no ancillary character in this narrative, as she is now a bonafide star, transitioning from power forward to combo guard following injuries to teammates.
Co-stars Sheridan “The Jackal” Bostick, a 52% 3-point shooter in a small sample this season, has been limited with a foot injury, and floor general Brielle Bartelt, who shoots 39 percent from the floor on eight shots per game this year, has battled both injury and foul trouble recently.
Janiyah Heyward, last year’s Peach Belt Rookie of the Year, takes more than a dozen shots per game while shooting under 37% from the field; she is yet to attempt a 3-pointer this season.
Bostick’s 3-point prowess transforms the USCB offense when she’s involved, but The Jackal did not see a shot attempt Saturday, and the Sand Sharks had a tough time cashing in close to the basket.
“You can’t be 2-for-17 on layups … you can’t get a better shot than making a layup” Versyp said. “We gotta figure it out. We gotta be able to score the basketball … we’ve just got a lot of work to do.”
Flagler’s pick-and-roll, motion-based offense, reminiscent of Phil Jackson’s triangle, forced defensive switches and constantly pulled the Sand Sharks’ defense out of position Saturday. Flagler’s Destiny McClendon shot 56 percent from the floor and 11/12 at the charity stripe to lead all scorers with 23. The Saints attempted 21 more shots than the Sand Sharks despite a size disadvantage, hauling in 12 more rebounds than USCB and dominating possessions with superior guard play and full-court pressure.
As the Sand Shark women return to the practice floor, opportunity abounds to structure an offense flush with off-ball screens for Bostick — clearly the focus of opposing defenses since her breakout performance against Clayton State — and pick and roll with Gattozzi and Bartelt off the bigs. The greatest opportunity arises with the need for communication on defense, where a zone with Bartelt or Kay’Mar Griffin as disruptors at the top of the defense might have slowed the layup line the Saints ran to a 27-point blowout win Saturday night. Regardless of the scheme, everybody on defense needs to talk.
With improved shot selection and team defense, the Sand Sharks can rebound down the stretch. Griffin appears to be the perimeter defender this team needs as Bartelt is limited, while Madison Self is emerging as a stretch-four that can endure contact, generate layups, and identify spot-up threes. If Heyward can remain a rim runner who attacks the basket and, most importantly, abandons the contested mid-range jump shot, her value increases exponentially. Sophomore point guard Taniyah Bowman is shooting 43 percent from the floor and 67 percent from three in limited appearances this season; Mighty Mouse can run the offense, but if she prioritizes her shot she can impact the game more dramatically.
Mahkayla Premo and recruit Courtney Campbell will pressure Bowman’s minutes next season, so the time is now for Mighty Mouse to carve out her role as a spot shooter and save the day.
The Sand Sharks’ five-game slide has been rough, but this writer has caught Cat Scratch Fever watching “Catwoman” Gattozzi emerge as one of the best players in the Peach Belt Conference. Firmly cast as the lead in this production, El Gato has answered the cat signal, and it’s a lot of fun to watch. The powerful wing has transitioned to run the point at times, become the focus of the offense, and been matched up against the conference’s best players defensively. Catwoman’s emergence from the shadows has been a bright signal in a bleak season.
Kevin Libby is a contributor to LowcoSports and a former WHHI-TV News anchor and current sports broadcaster.
