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Big test for Faris, Heritage Christian
Kelly Faris, the only player to sign a national letter of intent in the early signing period, will lead her Heritage Christian of Indianapolis squad against Chicago powerhouse Whitney Young Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Here's an item about the game that appeared in Thursday's edition of the Indianapolis Star:
Heritage Christian hosts Chicago power Whitney Young, the Class 4A state runner-up in Illinois last season and No. 2 in the USA Today's preseason national poll, at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
"We've always tried to have a pretty difficult schedule and this year's is the strongest we've had," Heritage Christian coach Rick Risinger said of the opportunities to play regional opponents after winning three consecutive 2A state titles. "(Whitney Young) is the type of team that really challenges you. We're looking forward to playing them."
Former Eagles athletic director Jeff Hester scheduled a pair of games with Bolingbrook, Ill. -- which beat Whitney Young for the state title last season and will come to Heritage Christian on Jan. 31, 2009 -- and that connection led to Friday's game. Heritage Christian, which hasn't lost to a team from Indiana since Jan. 23, 2007, beat Bolingbrook 49-46 last season.
Whitney Young is led by 6-foot center Porsha Harris, who has committed to Ohio University; 5-9 Ashlee Anderson, a Pittsburgh commitment; and 5-6 sophomore point guard Chanise Jenkins.
Risinger believes Heritage Christian will make a return trip to Chicago next season after standouts Kelly Faris (Connecticut), Claire Freeman (Butler) and Emily Anderson (Hillsdale College) graduate.
Heritage Christian is the top ranked team in the Star's 2A poll, receiving all 15 first-place votes after opening the season with three straight wins. In Heritage Christian's last game, Faris had 11 points, 16 rebounds and five assists in a 67-41 win over Rufus King of Milwaukee on Nov. 22.
Changing gears to the professional scene, I spoke to former UConn star Kara Wolters before Wednesday's Holy Cross game to get her reaction to the Houston Comets not fielding a team for the 2009 WNBA season. Wolters played on the 1999 Comets squad which won the third of four straight WNBA titles.
"They did great job with the franchise and we had terrific fans there. I was always amazed by the fan base. It reminded me of the fan base as far as Connecticut in the loyalty of their fans.
"It is shocking. It is almost like when Rebecca (Lobo) and I were here, we got the snowball rolling down the hill here at Connecticut. It is like saying all of a sudden Connecticut isn't going to have a team anymore. It's a shame for the league."
The dispersal draft is set for Monday. The Connecticut Sun have the 10th pick and likely won't make a selection unless they make a trade which seems unlikely. Sancho Lyttle and former Rutgers star Matee Ajavon are the top players available in the dispersal draft and figure to end up in Atlanta and Washington. Five players including future Hall of Famer Tina Thompson as well as former Tennessee center Michelle Snow are unrestricted free agents and can't be selected in the dispersal draft.
The Sun could be players in the free agent market and would love to add a big-time shooting to its 2009 roster. Just a thought, but how would getting a player who was 4 for 6 from 3-point range and finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a recent EuroLeague game? Well, that was the line for Evanthia Maltsi, who played 26 games with the Sun in 2007. Maltsi has obligations in her native Greece which kept her from rejoining the Sun in the 2008 season and the Connecticut Sun hierarchy weren't optimistic about getting Maltsi to play for the franchise in the 2009 season either. It should be noted that one of Maltsi's teammates at ZVVK USK Prague is Sun All-Star guard Lindsay Whalen. Don't think Whalen wouldn't love to be running the floor with Maltsi at Mohegan Sun Arena in pursuit of the franchise's elusive first WNBA title. Whalen had 11 points, four rebounds and three steals and former UConn star Swin Cash added 10 points and eight rebounds in a 102-78 win over Jolly JBS Sibenik on Wednesday.
Here's an item about the game that appeared in Thursday's edition of the Indianapolis Star:
Heritage Christian hosts Chicago power Whitney Young, the Class 4A state runner-up in Illinois last season and No. 2 in the USA Today's preseason national poll, at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
"We've always tried to have a pretty difficult schedule and this year's is the strongest we've had," Heritage Christian coach Rick Risinger said of the opportunities to play regional opponents after winning three consecutive 2A state titles. "(Whitney Young) is the type of team that really challenges you. We're looking forward to playing them."
Former Eagles athletic director Jeff Hester scheduled a pair of games with Bolingbrook, Ill. -- which beat Whitney Young for the state title last season and will come to Heritage Christian on Jan. 31, 2009 -- and that connection led to Friday's game. Heritage Christian, which hasn't lost to a team from Indiana since Jan. 23, 2007, beat Bolingbrook 49-46 last season.
Whitney Young is led by 6-foot center Porsha Harris, who has committed to Ohio University; 5-9 Ashlee Anderson, a Pittsburgh commitment; and 5-6 sophomore point guard Chanise Jenkins.
Risinger believes Heritage Christian will make a return trip to Chicago next season after standouts Kelly Faris (Connecticut), Claire Freeman (Butler) and Emily Anderson (Hillsdale College) graduate.
Heritage Christian is the top ranked team in the Star's 2A poll, receiving all 15 first-place votes after opening the season with three straight wins. In Heritage Christian's last game, Faris had 11 points, 16 rebounds and five assists in a 67-41 win over Rufus King of Milwaukee on Nov. 22.
Changing gears to the professional scene, I spoke to former UConn star Kara Wolters before Wednesday's Holy Cross game to get her reaction to the Houston Comets not fielding a team for the 2009 WNBA season. Wolters played on the 1999 Comets squad which won the third of four straight WNBA titles.
"They did great job with the franchise and we had terrific fans there. I was always amazed by the fan base. It reminded me of the fan base as far as Connecticut in the loyalty of their fans.
"It is shocking. It is almost like when Rebecca (Lobo) and I were here, we got the snowball rolling down the hill here at Connecticut. It is like saying all of a sudden Connecticut isn't going to have a team anymore. It's a shame for the league."
The dispersal draft is set for Monday. The Connecticut Sun have the 10th pick and likely won't make a selection unless they make a trade which seems unlikely. Sancho Lyttle and former Rutgers star Matee Ajavon are the top players available in the dispersal draft and figure to end up in Atlanta and Washington. Five players including future Hall of Famer Tina Thompson as well as former Tennessee center Michelle Snow are unrestricted free agents and can't be selected in the dispersal draft.
The Sun could be players in the free agent market and would love to add a big-time shooting to its 2009 roster. Just a thought, but how would getting a player who was 4 for 6 from 3-point range and finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a recent EuroLeague game? Well, that was the line for Evanthia Maltsi, who played 26 games with the Sun in 2007. Maltsi has obligations in her native Greece which kept her from rejoining the Sun in the 2008 season and the Connecticut Sun hierarchy weren't optimistic about getting Maltsi to play for the franchise in the 2009 season either. It should be noted that one of Maltsi's teammates at ZVVK USK Prague is Sun All-Star guard Lindsay Whalen. Don't think Whalen wouldn't love to be running the floor with Maltsi at Mohegan Sun Arena in pursuit of the franchise's elusive first WNBA title. Whalen had 11 points, four rebounds and three steals and former UConn star Swin Cash added 10 points and eight rebounds in a 102-78 win over Jolly JBS Sibenik on Wednesday.
posted by Jim Fuller at
2:27 PM
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