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By LOU HATTER
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
After missing a berth in the regional tournament by one game last year, Coach Gary Leake’s Rappahannock Panther basketball team rebounded more determined than ever.
The team has returned seven players from last year’s 14-8 season, including two starters and five lettermen who saw a lot of action last year. To those veterans, Coach Leake has added seven new players, and he promises a new brand of basketball for the Panthers this season.
“We’ve got speed, and good outside shooters,” Coach Leake said, ’ and consequently he plans to modify the team’s strategy to take advantage of those assets.
Gone this season with the graduation of center Julian Groves is the Panthers strong inside game, but the coach said that has been replaced by strong outside shooting and the quickest team he has coached in four years.
“Each year it is the coach’s responsibility to make alterations to meet what the team is best at. We don’t have a dominating power forward inside, so we have worked our strategy to exploit our strengths.”
A benefit of that change, Coach Leake added, is that opponents will be seeing Rappahannocks 1-3-1 “scattergun” offense for the first time. “For the past four years, we’ve done pretty much the same thing. It worked in one way, but it was pretty easy for opponents to prepare for us. They knew what we were going to do.”
This year will be different, he said. The “scattergun” forces opponents to play a man-to-man defense, creating one-on-one scoring opportunities, particularly for a strong outside shooting team like the Panthers.
Coach Leake said he plans to exploit the three-point line to the maximum this season, takin advantage of his team’s outside shooting talents. “Basketball is really changing,” he said. Gone are the days of the power forwards, who drove inside for consistent shots, then fought for rebounds under the boards.
“The addition of the three-point line has really changed things, and we are going to incorporate that into our game plan. That forces the defense to play man-to-man, which creates more opportunities for mistakes. They can’t sit back in a zone defense anymore.”
On defense, the Panthers plan to
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