The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Cowgirls basketball team is midway through their first week of practice, looking to right the ship following a 6-16 season in 2021-22. Following back-to-back 17 win seasons, the Cowgirls took a step back last season, but with a veteran leader in Lexie Lane, and point guard Sawyer Morrical another year older, head coach Liz Ennis looks to be a quicker CGD squad.
“We have a little more quickness, we have size in the post with Elliot (Ennis), I think she’s going to be a consistent contributor for us.” Ennis said. “Lexie Lane has improved her game, we talked with her about not settling for a three-pointer, but really driving to the hoop, getting open more and creating more shots for herself.”
Lane averaged 14.5 PPG as a junior, which ranked 5th in the North Central Conference. But outside of her an Morrical, who averaged 7.1 PPG as a sophomore, no other girl on the team averaged more than 5 PPG in ’21-22. Ennis said that has been an area of focus in the opening days of the ’22-23 season.
“I told the girls that you’ve got to look to score,” Ennis said. “I think we relied too much on Lexie (Lane) last year as our scorer, and we didn’t have a lot of other people step up. Others know now, that they know their role and they know they have to step up.”
Elliot Ennis and Kennedy Trca will join the frontcourt this season, replacing outgoing seniors Nikki Kapka, Summer Traub and Delia Swanson. The 3rd guard spot in the CGD lineup will likely be a three-way battle between Indy Johnson, Peyton DeCoster and Kennedy Jackson for the Cowgirls lineup as well.
Clarion-Goldfield-Dows opens their season on Monday, November 21st when they travel to Gowrie to take on Southeast Valley, with tipoff at 7:30 PM.