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Dragons Host Walker In Home Opener

MARK PINSON/HIGHLANDS TODAY

Lake Placid junior point guard Kaneisha Hamilton (5) will run the Green Dragon offense this season.

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By Mark  Pinson | Highlands Today

Published: November 15, 2007

LAKE PLACID –– With an infusion of ability and talent, the Lake Placid girls basketball team plays its first home game of the season tonight against Walker Memorial Academy.

The Green Dragons dropped their season opener against Clewiston by a score of 39-33 on Tuesday night, but LP coach Shonda Legree saw a lot of positives in the loss.

"I was very pleased with our effort because we played hard and were competitive," the sixth-year Green Dragon coach said. "We had the lead until the third period when we ran into some foul trouble and Clewiston took advantage of that."

Junior point guard Kaneisha Hamilton led the way with 10 points and six assists, while Sierra Weaver chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds.

"We have installed a new offense this season and we got plenty of open looks at the basket," Legree said. "But we just couldn't get the ball to go down."

Lake Placid trailed by only four points with under two minutes to play against the Tigers, but couldn't pull any closer.

"Kaneisha sat out most of the third quarter with foul trouble, but once she got back in we made a run," Legree said. "Then she picked up a silly foul and was done for the night and we never got our offense going after that.

"She has to learn to not be so aggressive because we need her in the game, but the girls have to learn to play without her and do things the right way."

Lake Placid gets a chance to get in the win column tonight against the Eagles.

"We're looking forward to playing Walker Memorial and being on our home court," Legree said. "The more games we play, the quicker we'll improve."

Along with Hamilton, the Green Dragons return seniors Stacy Davis and Shardesia Sholtz.

Davis is the shooting guard and has the ability to hit the 3-pointer or use her quickness to drive to the basket.

"Stacy has good range from the outside and also can drive to the basket and draw some fouls," Legree said.

Sholtz is a 5-foot-9 forward and is a big force in the paint for the Green Dragons.

"Shardesia has good size and knows how to position herself for rebounds," the LP coach said. "She can also shoot the jumper and has the toughness to take the physical play in the paint."

Lake Placid's new offense is designed for each player to be able to score.

"We don't have any one star, so we want to give all the girls a chance to score," Legree said. "That makes it hard on the defense because they can't just concentrate on one person to stop our offense."

With volleyball season over, some new talent has joined the basketball squad.

"Ali Baker and Sierra have really helped our depth," Legree said. "We've only had a couple of practices with the entire team and we're still working on every aspect of the game."

Junior Ashley Tapapelow, and sophomores Brandi Colvert and Raquel Myers are welcome additions as well.

"Ashley hurt her leg and will be back in a couple of weeks, while Brandi has good range from outside," Legree said. "Raquel has good size and just needs to get tougher in the paint."

After finishing last in the district last year, which includes Frostproof, McKeel Academy and Mulberry, the Green Dragons are looking to make some noise this season.

"We are much improved from last year," Legree said. "We just need to keep working hard and the wins will come."

The Class 3A-District 10 Tournament is in Mulberry this year and Lagree is hoping her team is playing its best basketball come tournament time.

"We have more talent and ability on this team then we've had in a number of years," the Green Dragon coach said. "The girls are working hard learning the new offense and how to play defense and I have no doubt that we will improve each time we take the floor."

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