New coach preaches perimeter play

The Southside Batesville Lady Southerners posted a 12-13 record last year. This year, junior high coach Chris Hardin takes over as the senior high head coach. He expects the team to contend for the blended conference championship. After nine years of coaching the junior high team, Hardin moves up to senior high and brings assistant coach Tim Appleget in for his first year with the school. Hardin said the team will be a very guard-oriented one with limited inside play. Sophomore point guard Reese Gardner and senior forward Sydney Sweat are the returning starters. Post play will be divided among London Cuzzort, Kate Mead, Sweat and Shelby Warden. The team’s true depth is at the guard position, where Hardin said his team is strong. “We are very strong at the guard position, with Reese Gardner, Kassidy Barnt, Rylie Freeman, London Cuzzort and Kailee McGhee all providing meaningful minutes,” Harding said. “We will be a much different team than last year, playing a much faster pace and being very perimeter oriented. We have moved up two sophomores and two freshmen who will all help change our style. We should be a very good perimeter shooting team and will try to run up and down the floor as much as possible.” The team lacks height, which is why Hardin wants to play with pace and perimeter shooting. For the team to be successful at perimeter shooting, it needs to play aggressively and block out well, Hardin said. The Southerners have talent enough to draw attention from scouts for two of their players. This should give them an edge despite their lack of size, the coach said. “Reese Gardner and London Cuzzort have already received a couple of college offers and are being recruited by several colleges,” Hardin said. “This is impressive since they are so young, a sophomore and a freshman.”