- April 18, 2024
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The Matanzas girls team might be coach Louise Wolfe’s fastest yet.
Entering her fourth season as varsity coach of the Matanzas girls basketball team, Louise Wolfe knows that if her players want to be successful, they need to challenge themselves.
“I think that at times, we have moments of greatness,” Wolfe said. “But we’re not challenging each other enough during practice. I think that to get better, the players have to step up their level of play against one another and take the game more seriously.”
Coming off a 1-17 season, Wolfe has preached fundamental basketball year after year. But this year, she thinks her team will be her fastest team yet, and that will be crucial if the Lady Pirates want a shot at contending for a district title.
The Lady Pirates lost eight seniors last season. Look for senior captain and point guard Nicole Bonilla, to be a leader.
So far, the Lady Pirates are 0-2, losing the Flagler Palm Coast Nov. 15 and Seabreeze Nov. 18. In the game against Seabreeze, senior Megan Nemec sustained a knee injury. As recent as Friday, Nov. 19, Wolfe wasn’t sure of the severity of Nemec’s injury or how much time she’d miss.
Meanwhile, Wolfe said in addition to getting her team to play fundamentally sound basketball, she plans to switch the focus to athleticism.
“We should be a lot faster than we’ve ever been, and we need to use our speed,” Wolfe said. “We are usually strong defensively, but we’re not going to win any games when we shoot 20%.”
Wolfe tries to get her players to take about 200 shots in practice during game scenarios.
Junior Morgan Pearson, who plays small forward and the three guard, will play a huge role in the switch to speed. Wolfe said she’s incredibly smart.
Amanda Melendez is the team’s size weapon on the rebounds, and Alyssa Lamb plays small forward.
Wolfe said one of the team’s biggest hurdles is pulling together as a team and having all the players accept their roles.
The Lady Pirates look to nab their first win of the season at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30, at home against New Smyrna Beach. They play 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, at Creekside, before hosing Nease 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3. They visit Pedro Menendez Dec. 7.
