Lady Trojans look for small improvements

Troy’s Lady Trojans basketball team hopes this will be the year things turn around. Behind first-year Head Coach Justin Young, Troy’s hopes and expectations are tempered.

“It would be nice to win a couple games this season,” senior post Caitlin Johnston said. “We’ve had a rough go of it these past couple years.”

Johnston said she felt comfortable in her leadership role, citing her experience as a captain on the softball team.

Along with Johnston, Young mentioned fellow senior Kellie Lundin as the team’s most experienced player.

“She has a very high basketball IQ,” Young said. “Kellie and Caitlin are interchangeable in that either one can play guard and the other wing.”

Young plans to keep it simple on offense, relying on basic motion and pick-and-roll sets. On defense, he hopes to keep opposing offenses off balance by switching between man-to-man and zone sets. He plans to implement 2-3 and 1-3-1 zones.

Young most recently coached Troy’s C team and said he is excited about the team’s energy and hard-working attitude.

The Lady Trojans count only 14 girls in the junior varsity and varsity rosters combined.

“There are going to be several freshmen playing significant minutes,” Young said.

One of those freshmen will be Allie Brown. Young describes her as a talented shooter who can benefit from the team’s motion sets.

As far as Young’s expectations for this season, he hopes to plant seeds that will help develop a high-caliber program.

“I just want to make this a place where we get better every day,” Young said. “We don’t have the luxury of goals that other teams have. We need to establish a winning culture.”