'This is going to be a great year for Sandpoint basketball'

SANDPOINT — Featuring just one senior, a completely new system and philosphy and a really young squad, it came as little surprise that first-year head coach Bill Bender said the biggest key for the Sandpoint girls basketball team this season would be exercising patience.

Bender, who was previously the head girls basketball coach at St. George’s in Washington for four years and an assistant at Lakeside for eight years, takes over a program run for the last four years by Lance Bruce.

Bender inherits a team that went 8-14 last year and didn’t win a 4A North league game. To remedy that, he’s given his team a list of 10 rules to success, each of which focus on working together.

“The biggest keys will be patience to grow and trusting the system we’re putting in,” said Bender, who plans to play a deep bench of 10 players. “We want to be aggressive and play up-tempo, but we need to understand how the system can work for us.”

The floor general will be senior point guard Jordan Speelmon, who as the lone senior will be asked to provide a wealth of leadership. The strength of Speelmon’s game is speed and quickness, and Bender is hoping she employs those weapons in a way that best benefits the team.

“We need her to play within herself,” he said of his point guard. “The challenge will be making the right decision at the right time.”

The scoring load figures to be carried by junior shooting guard Hailey Olin, whom Bender calls the team’s best player. Olin scored in double figures 13 times last season, including four games where she scored 17, and can score in a variety of ways. Blessed with a versatile, all-around game, she can also play any position on the floor if needed.

“She’s a good defender, a good shooter and has a good understanding of what we want both offensively and defensively,” said Bender. “The rest of the floor improves when Hailey is on it, and that might be her single biggest asset.”

On the blocks will be four players all right around 6-feet tall in juniors Nikole Alamillo, Emma Liband and Cassie Young, and sophomore Karlee Williams. Bender calls the four interchangeable in the low post.

“Karlee is young and raw, with loads of natural ability,” said Bender, also lauding the play of Alamillo and Young, each of whom logged quality varsity minutes last year. “They give us strength and a physical presence inside.”

Rounding out a bench that will be asked to log a lot of minutes are junior guards Kendra Corless and Maryah Delgado, sophomore guard Lily Martin and freshman wing Madi Schoening.

Bender is hoping for more balanced scoring, with three or four options to go to in any given set. With a host of new varsity players and the installation of a new philosophy, Bender is hoping the team can improve steadily early in the season, ultimately peaking when the all-important district games start.

“We won’t be the quickest or fastest, but we’re learning ways to be quick with our minds and skills,” he said, calling offensive rebounding, a hustle stat, the biggest strength of the team. “If you’re going to miss a shot, let’s go get another one.”

Speelmon, who hopes the team can finally break through for a trip to state, is brimming with the kind of confidence any good point guard carries onto the floor.

“This is going to be a great year for Sandpoint basketball,” she predicted. “We’re like a family, we’re all one team.”

The Bulldogs tip off the season tonight against Post Falls, at 7 p.m. at Les Rogers Court.