Erika Connelly has replaced Willy Felton as the head coach of The Community School girls' varsity basketball squad that opens its 13-game campaign Friday, Nov. 19 with a 6 p.m. contest against Dietrich at The Fish Tank in Sun Valley.
Krista Cater, a University of Idaho women's basketball team member from 1988-92 and first-team Big Sky Conference pick, will be Connelly's assistant coach. Felton will assist first-year Cutthroat boys' varsity coach Erik Olson this winter.
Connelly will try to replace the scoring contributions of graduated Maggie Flood (10.5 ppg), who led the Cutthroats to a 3-12 record. The coach said, "We aren't going to look to one player in particular. We hope to spread the scoring around throughout the whole team."
Back from last year's team is 5-10 senior post Natalie Goddard (3.3 ppg), who also starred for The Community School volleyball team this fall. She is joined by 5-7 senior post Chelsea Cloud (1.3 ppg).
Two other returners on the 10-player squad are 5-2 senior guard Julie Doan and 5-7 sophomore guard Ella Marks.
New players are: Two senior posts, 5-8 Emma Wilander and 5-8 Daniela Stokes; 5-8 sophomore post Taylor Figge; 5-7 soph wing Paige Riedinger; 5-6 soph wing Madeleine Caraluzzi; and 5-6 freshman guard Chloe Chrysikopoulos.
Connelly said, "We have four strong returning players who we expect to lead the younger and less experienced players. Our newcomers are athletically talented and have proven to be quick learners."
Carey and The Community School of Sun Valley are in the new-look Northside Conference that in 2010-11 features five schools in the North Division and three schools in the South.
It's an eight-team conference that will settle its two automatic State 1A Division 2 tournament berths during the league tourney Feb. 5-10 at Dietrich. And it's definitely the premier small-school conference in the state of Idaho.
Other North Division teams are Richfield, Dietrich and Camas County of Fairfield—all legitimate contenders—plus Lighthouse Christian of Twin Falls, Murtaugh and Castleford from the South Division.
2010-11 CommSchool GIRLS Basketball Schedule
A total 13 varsity games on the regular-season slate for the 2010-11 Cutthroat girls; 8 home and 5 away. Of the 13 varsity games, 11 are Northside Conference match-ups (the 8 North Division games identified with an *, and the 3 South Division games with **). Home games at The Community School gym in Sun Valley are listed in bold.
DATE, DAY OPPONENT LOCATION
Nov. 19, Friday Dietrich* Home, 6:00
Nov. 30, Tuesday Lighthouse Christian** Home, 6:00
Dec. 2, Thursday Castleford** Home, 6:00
Dec. 7, Tuesday Bliss (JV) Away, 5:00
Dec. 9, Thursday Murtaugh** Home, 6:00
Dec. 16, Thursday Twin Falls Christian Twin Falls, 5:00
Jan. 4, Tuesday Carey* Away, 4:30
Jan. 6, Thursday Twin Falls Christian Home, 5:00
Jan. 11, Tuesday Camas County* Home, 6:00
Jan. 13, Thursday Richfield* Away, 6:00
Jan. 18, Tuesday Dietrich* Away, 6:00
Jan. 25, Tuesday Carey* Home, 4:30
Jan. 28, Friday Camas County* Fairfield, 6:00
Feb. 1, Tuesday Richfield* Home, 4:30
Feb. 5, Saturday Northside 1A Div. 2 Dietrich
Feb. 10, Wednesday Northside 1A Div. 2 completion Dietrich
Feb. 12, Saturday State play-in game American Falls, 3:00
Feb. 17, Thursday State 1A Division 2 tournament Nampa High School
NOTES—The 2011 4th District 1A Division 2 girls' league includes 5 teams in the North Division—Carey, Camas County of Fairfield, Community School of Sun Valley, Richfield and Dietrich—along with an additional 3 teams in the South Division—Castleford, Murtaugh and Lighthouse Christian of Twin Falls......The 4th District 8-team single elimination consolation bracket tournament is scheduled for 5 nights at Dietrich High School, Feb. 5-10......In opening round match-ups based on final regular-season records, it's #1 North vs. #5 North, #3 North vs. #2 South, #2 North vs. #3 South, and #1 South vs. #4 North.......The conference gets 2.5 seeds to state.....The top 2 teams automatically qualify for the state tournament in Nampa, and the 3rd-place District 4 team has a play-in game Saturday, Feb. 12 at 3 p.m. in American Falls against the eastern Idaho (Districts 5/6) runner-up team.......At the state tournament, the Northside champion plays the Boise-area runner-up in the first round, while the Northside runner-up goes against the northern Idaho (District 2) champion.
