For The Tribune
Seymour senior basketball players Makenna Fee and Megan Ritz said they were trying to work on different parts of their game and at the same time build teamwork Friday in the Seymour Shootout at the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.
“As a team, we’re really working on our offense because we just got a new offense in. I think it’s really going to work with what we have this year,” Fee said following a 43-42 loss to Bloomington South on Friday night.
“This summer, we’re trying to get me comfortable working in the post considering that I was an outside player last year, so we’re going to get me working more inside so Makenna can be outside so we can screen and get her in,” Ritz said.
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Owls head coach Jason Longmeier felt like his team had a good day in defeating Charlestown 43-36 and Mount Vernon (Fortville) 29-19 before falling to Bloomington South.
Fee topped the Owls in scoring against Charlestown and Mount Vernon with 12 points in each game.
Alyssa Perry added eight and Ashton Chase has seven against Charlestown. Chase scored six against Mount Vernon. In the game against Bloomington South, Chase scored 15, Fee had nine and Grace Schrader totaled eight points.
The Owls trailed Bloomington South 35-28 before they rallied to tie the game. The Panthers held a 43-39 lead before Chase hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining that closed the scoring.
Longmeier said he was interested in seeing how the Owls performed in various situations.
“In the summer, you’re trying to build the chemistry with as open as the summers are now,” he said. “We’re basically trying to run the stuff that we think we’ll be successful with when the season starts, so we’re trying to run our complete offense. We don’t have a lot of it in right now, just the basics that we can get ready to go.
“We’ve kind of seen that in games the last couple of nights that we’ve had some opportunities. We’ve got some young kids and some pieces we’re trying to fill in. At this point in time, we’re ahead of where I thought we would be. Our chemistry is pretty good. Offensively, I think we’ve played well. Defensively, we’ve gotten after it a little bit, so I’m pretty pleased with where we’re at.”
Fee said she likes shootouts.
“They’re tough on us, but for summer ball, that’s what we need right now,” she said. “We need to make sure we’re getting games in because that’s the only way we’re going to learn what we need to learn.”
Ritz said she feels she can adjust to playing a different spot on the floor.
“It doesn’t change too much considering that I wasn’t really an outside threat last year, but this year, I think it’s going to change more that we are getting Makenna outside and getting her shots that she needs to get for us to win,’” she said. “The Graces (Meyer and Schrader) and I will be high post-low post, and then Makenna, Aidan (Hiester), Ashton and Alyssa (Perry) will be outside. We just run a wheel offense around.
“The shootout tells us who is going to fight when comes to the end of the season, when it comes to sectional. It wears you out, three games in a day, so you see how mentally tough you are. We’re trying to get in as many games as we can to prepare us and get us in shape, up and down the floor passing and running more than our opponents can handle and just wear them down.”
The Seymour junior varsity lost to Jennings County, Madison, Bloomington South and Silver Creek in games played at Seymour Middle School. The Owls lost to the Dragons 29-27 in their closest game in the shootout.
Jeffersonville and Columbus East also had teams in the tournament.
Longmeier said the Owls will continue to install more parts of their game in the remaining league game in the Lady Mac League. Seymour played five games in a 24-hour period after playing two in the Lady Mac League on Thursday night.
Seymour plays 12 games in the Lady Mac League. The Owls already have played Avon and will play Brownsburg and Warren Central later this month.
“That’s why I scheduled us to play Bloomington South in game No. 3 today,” Longmeier said. “I wanted to play a really good team. I wanted to challenge us both mentally and physically that last game.”
Seven girls played for Seymour in the shootout.
“Our goal is to find eight people that can play at this level and go from there, and we expect to have a very competitive JV team to go along with that,” Longmeier said.