Ward Sutlive, Campus Carrier asst. sports editor
The men’s and women’s basketball teams of Berry will participate in their first games of the season this Friday. The men’s team will go up against Centenary College at 7 p.m. in the Cage Center, while the women’s team will face off against Huntington College in Alabama at 7 p.m. According to the coaches, both teams are in good spirits and have high hopes.
“I’d like to invite everybody to come out and watch our team,” Thomas Johnson, head coach of the women’s basketball team, said. “We play a really exciting brand of basketball and are a very fun group of people to watch play.”
The women’s team has received an uptick in membership, with several freshmen joining this year. Avery Huffman, one of the new freshman players, has made quite an impression during her time on the team. When the team’s original starting point guard was injured during the beginning of practice, Huffman took over that position and has made a smooth transition.
“Avery is a freshman who had to step up into that role,” senior Elly Calihan, captain of the women’s team, said. “And she’s been doing really well [despite] not having done it before at the college level.”
According to Johnson and Matthew Richter, head coach of the men’s basketball team, the men’s and women’s teams both have positive dynamics, and the players even spend time together outside of practice. They participate in activities such as studying together, and eating at the dining center in the Krannert. The players also work well together on the court and always make sure to share the ball.
One of the men’s team’s greatest strengths is their ability to offer constructive feedback to one another, and in turn accept it. The women’s team is great at coordination, and building off of each other’s strengths while compensating for their weaknesses. Despite not having had an official game yet, Richter feels good about this season and has enjoyed working with his team.
“[Our team] just wants to represent our program and Berry the best that they possibly can.” Richter said.
One of the men’s team’s main goals is to win the conference championship. After that, they want to compete in and win a national championship. The team also wants to stay at the top of the Southern Sports Association and reach their full potential as a collective unit.
“I’m super excited to see how we grow together on the court this year,” freshmen Chase Lamey, a member of the men’s team, said.
The women’s team is hoping to win both the conference championship and the national championship. Callahan wants to beat Berry’s rebound record and reach a thousand points. Callahan in particular wants to win the conference championship.
“We haven’t won [a conference championship] since I’ve been here,” Callahan said. “So, I’m really excited to hopefully win the conference.”
The men’s team practices in a variety of ways, such as participating in competitive drills. The drills are set up as simulations of real games and have been this season’s most consistent form of training. These drills range from three on three matches, to four on four, to five on five.
The women’s team’s practices have a primary focus on defense. They also typically have a lot of competitive challenges. The team participated in a Division I scrimmage against West Georgia on Oct. 25th, losing by 30 points. The main purpose of the scrimmage was for Johnson to get a clear sense of the player’s strengths and weaknesses, and the specific situations that they would shine in.
“It’s just a matter of how well we can execute when we actually start playing from the things that we learn in practice,” Callahan said.
Johnson has been coaching at Berry for 14 years. He spent five years with the men’s team and nine years with the women’s team. Johnson expects the team’s most challenging opponents will be Trinity University and Southwestern University, both from Texas.
“I [think that] the Texas teams will be pretty good competition coming into the league,” Johnson said.
Johnson is very impressed by his team, with the standout players being freshmen Avery Huffman, Avery Payne, Isabella Ramirez, Kaylana Curry, and transfer student Jade Lewis, who comes from Southwestern State University.
“Our four freshmen and our transfer have surprised me a lot,” Johnson said. “They’ve caught onto things quickly, [and] they’ve done a really good job of figuring things out.”
Both Richter and Johnson are looking forward to their respective upcoming games. Johnson is happy to have the home court advantage, while Richter is excited to show off what his team can do.
“I would like to thank [not just] the students, but the staff and community of Berry as a whole for the support that they gave us last year,” Richter said.