{"id":125045,"date":"2019-11-21T05:00:20","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T10:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=125045"},"modified":"2019-11-21T09:56:51","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T14:56:51","slug":"hoops-preview-van-wert-lady-cougars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/11\/21\/hoops-preview-van-wert-lady-cougars\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoops preview: Van Wert Lady Cougars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong><em>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hannah Phlipot has taken over the reigns of Van Wert\u2019s girls\u2019 basketball program, and the former assistant coach has some returning experience and exciting new talent to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Hannah-Phlipot-2019-2020.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-125056\"\/><figcaption><strong>Hannah Phlipot<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Just two starters return from last year\u2019s 6-17 (2-7 WBL) team and both are senior guards \u2013 Caylee Phillips and Jerica Huebner \u2013 but Phlipot also has four other returning letter winners in junior guards Carly Smith and Jaylyn Rickard, junior center Allison Schaufelberger and senior forward\/center Jamison Clouse, who lettered as a sophomore but didn\u2019t play last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guard Brianna DeAmicis is the other senior on the team and is expected to see signficiant varsity minutes, along with sophomore guard\/forward Emilee Phillips and freshman guard Kyra Welch. Sophomore guard Carlee Young and freshman guard\/forward Sofia Houg round out the 2019-2020 roster.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat I like most about this group is their passion to get better and how coachable they are,\u201d Phlipot said. \u201cEach of our girls wants to improve and has a passion for the game of basketball. You cannot teach that. Beyond that, they play hard all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur group of seniors this year is very unique to me, Phlipot continued. \u201cThey were the first group, as freshman, I coached at Van Wert.&nbsp; I&#8217;ve watched them grow and improve over the last four years as basketball players and as leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese four, Caylee, Jerica, Brianna, and Jamison, all bring instant energy and competitiveness to our group.&nbsp; They can easily get everyone going when we need an extra push.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of style, Phlipot said the Lady Cougars will try to play to their strength this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur squad is full of downright athletes,\u201d Phlipot explained. \u201cWe are going to use our speed and athleticism on the defensive end, but look to play controlled offensively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Decision making and shot selection will be keys for us as a team this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jared Loughrie and Troy Hoffman are the assistant coaches, and Harry Florence is the junior varsity coach.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As always, Van Wert will play a tough non-league and WBL schedule. The Lady Cougars will open the season at Ottoville on Friday, then will travel to Coldwater on Saturday. Other non-league games include Marion Local, Spencerville, Wayne Trace, Delphos St. John\u2019s, Delphos Jefferson, Lincolnview, Crestview, Fairview, Bryan and Lima Central Catholic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur 22 game schedule is tough,\u201d Phlipot said. \u201cWe open with historical powerhouse Ottoville. This is a huge test for us as a program right out of the gate.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe hope to finish in the top half of the WBL,\u201d the coach added. \u201cEach night, no matter the team, will be a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor Hannah Phlipot has taken over the reigns of Van Wert\u2019s girls\u2019 basketball program, and the former assistant coach has some returning experience and exciting new talent to work with. Just two starters return from last year\u2019s 6-17 (2-7 WBL) team and both are senior guards \u2013 Caylee Phillips and Jerica Huebner [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-18 10:15:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}