By Matthew Yoder
A blank canvas, a clean slate, call it what you will, this year’s Arcadia girls basketball team will assuredly be a process reliant on patience. It’s not just that the Firebirds are freshman and sophomore heavy on varsity, but it’s more the fact that a lot of these players are new to the sport, which only furthers the challenge for second-year coach Casey Cordrey. Interest in the game is evidenced by a strong turnout for last week’s scrimmage against Pocomoke City. Eighteen girls have widened a talent pool for the program. In stark contrast, only seven players rounded out last year’s team. Cordrey credits the increase with a lot of informal recruiting technique.
“I was walking the halls, looking for athletes,” said Cordrey.
The result was an enthusiastic blend of speed, drive, and attentiveness. The fundamentals will be essential with such green athletes, but Cordrey appears to relish the challenge. He is very realistic of those challenges.
“Starting fresh, we don’t have to change any bad habits, I just want to see us improve every game,” Cordrey said.
Cordrey does have a pedigree for this kind of team-building process. Previously he helped mold a team that saw only four wins in four years and led the program to competition at the state level in his third year as coach. He sees that same potential in these athletes, albeit with a widened lens.
“We’re looking at a long-term situation here, my outlook is for when these sophomores are seniors, two to three years from now,” said Cordrey.
His rapport with these girls is strong, as they run through passing and defensive drills together, , hammering out the fundamentals. Cordrey coached at the college level for Shenandoah University, and he appears to have the undivided attention of his young squad.
“They are very good kids, very openminded, the freshman girls come to open gyms,” said Cordrey.
That’s not always been the case. Just last year open gyms consisted of one girl regularly showing up. This year the number has ballooned to ten.
They’ve had only seven practices to address the expanse of the game. What they have is speed, but the learning process in competitive situations will be trying at times. Cordrey is nonetheless optimistic as his team displays comradery practicing free-throws.
“We won’t be looking at the scoreboard, we’re just focused on getting better every possession,” Cordrey said.
In their scrimmage against Pocomoke City last Tuesday, they displayed all the weaknesses and strengths of a young team. They were outscored, outrebounded, and outwitted in game situations, but they didn’t drag their feet, relinquish their fight, or cease competing. They listened to their coach, rolled with the punches, and continued to practice situational basketball. It’s important for this team to measure growth in individual possessions and expand goals in due time. The interest and the athleticism are there; it’s Cordrey’s job to offer light to these seeds with his basketball knowledge and keep everyone, spectators included, patient for the germination process.
