2020-21 Georgetown Lady G-Men (Wade Linville, Champion Media)
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
GEORGETOWN — While size won’t be one of their strong suits, shooting and tempo will be as the Georgetown Lady G-Men will pose as a competitive brand for the 2020-21 season.
A lot hinges on Maddi Benjamin and Torie Utter making the Lady G-Men go, what else comes with it will most likely dictate their season.
Benjamin battled injuries her junior season and that somehwat held Georgetown back in their 2019-20 campaign, finishing 11-12 and third in the SBAAC National Division.
“Benjamin last year had the injury preseason and never really got to 100 percent,” Lady G-Men coach Andrew Gill said. “She’s back and healthy and adds another year of experience. She’s been a three-year varsity starter. She is playing like the Maddi I know early on. She loves defense and is hard-nosed on that end of the floor. She runs the point and her fourth year doing so.”
Benjamin was still able to produce 10.5 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game to go with three steals a night. If Monday night in their season opener is any indicator, she’s back to full strength as she paced the team with 26 points and added 12 steals in a 71-39 win over Blanchester.
Utter enters her junior season with interest from several colleges, the guard’s hard work starting to get noticed by those outside of Georgetown. She’s coming off a sophomore season averaging a conference high 19.4 points per game to go with four rebounds and two steals a game.
“She has a work ethic like no other,” Gill said. “She’s in the gym non-stop, does everything in practice that we ask and stays after to work on her game. When Benjamin was out last season they doubled her every game, she got good about distributing it and taking pressure off of her.”
Now Gill is looking for her to take her game a step further.
“Looking for her continuing to grow as a player and a leader,” Gill said.
While those two are in the driver’s seat with the keys in their hand, the pieces around them will need to fill their roles to make it a successful season.
Grace Burrows is a returning starter, Becky Robiero-Solis comes over from Western Brown and provides shooting.
Gill is also counting on Emily Ring, Anistin Fender, Caitlyn Sweet and Nancy Hastings to provide valuable minutes to the team.
“It will be primarily those eight for playing time. It’s obvious Torie and Maddi we rely a lot on, but we feel the others can help take some pressure off. Burrows the started majority of games last year, Robiero-Solis played varsity last year, nice shooter and nice player, Ring has a year of experience, Sweet and Hastings played JV last year and we’re counting on them to step up and Fender has taken a big leap from last year and getting more confidence and that goes a long way,” Gill said.
In conference play, they’ll be shooting for Williamsburg, who went 12-0 in league play last season and return their top four leading scorers. The Lady G-Men finished third in conference last season, but could leap Bethel-Tate this season with all they lost to graduation. Felicity-Franklin, Clermont-Northeastern and East Clinton will also provide competitive tests in conference play.
“Williamsburg will be the one that everyone is going for,” Gill said. “Conference will be tough. We don’t have any of those where we can show up and win games. “
Shooting will be key to the Lady G-Men, looking to up their production from 47.5 points per game scored last season. Another key…health. An area that set them back last season.
“Health is a big thing. We shot the ball fairly well in scrimmages. For us to be successful we have to continue to grow on that. An area where we have to be good not being very big,” Gill said. “We’ll also look to push the tempo, faster paced but being smart doing it.”
ROSTER
NO.; NAME; GRADE; HT; POS.
2; Shelby Bradley; SO; 5-8; G
3; Anistin Fender; SO; 5-8; G
4; Caroline Ernst; FR; 5-4; G
5; Torie Utter; JR; 5-5; G
11; Maddi Benjamin; SR; 5-8; G
20; Caitlyn Sweet; JR; 5-7; F
21; Emily Ring; SR; 5-8; F
22; Grace Burrows; SR; 5-5; G
25; Emily Bertram; FR; 5-7; G
30; Nancy Hastings; JR; 5-7; F
33; Becky Robiero-Solis; JR; 5-6; G
Head Coach: Andrew Gill (3rd season)
Assistants: Bailie Darnall
SCHEDULE
DATE; OPPONENT; SITE; TIME
Nov 23; Blanchester; Away; (W 71-39)
Nov 28; Ripley; Home; TBA
Nov 30; Bethel-Tate; Away; 7:30 PM
Dec 3; East Clinton; Home; 7:30 PM
Dec 5; Eastern; Home; 7:30 PM
Dec 10; West Union; Home; 7:30 PM
Dec 14; Felicity; Away; 7:30 PM
Dec 17; New Richmond; Away; 7:30 PM
Dec 29; Eastern; Away; TBA
Dec 30; TBA; Away; TBA
Jan 4; Williamsburg; Home; 7:30 PM
Jan 7; Clermont Northeastern; Home; 7:30 PM
Jan 11; Blanchester; Away; 7:30 PM
Jan 13; Fayetteville; Home; 7:30 PM
Jan 14; Bethel-Tate; Home; 7:30 PM
Jan 18; East Clinton; Away; 7:30 PM
Jan 20; St. Patrick (KY); Home; 7:30 PM
Jan 25; Summit Country Day; Away; 7:30 PM
Jan 28; Felicity; Home; 7:30 PM
Feb 1; Williamsburg; Away; 7:30 PM
Feb 4; Clermont Northeastern; Away; 7:30 PM
Feb 6; SBAAC CROSSOVER; Home; TBA
