GREENFIELD — Things were different this year when Hannah Farrell stepped on the court for practice for the first time.
Last year, Farrell led Greenfield-Central’s girls basketball team in scoring while her sister, Jessica, was one of the team’s senior leaders.
Now a junior, it’s Hannah Farrell’s turn to take the lead.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“It definitely has been weird,” Farrell said. “The first day of practice I was like, ‘Where’s my sister?’ I’ve gotten used to it. It’s just different on the court. My sister led the team last year, so I feel like just following in her footsteps. She’s a good example for me to learn from.”
Jessica Farrell’s departure is far from the only change on the Cougars team. That starts at the top, where first-year head coach Bradley Key takes the reins after spending nine years coaching at Greencastle.
It’s been a change that Key said he loves despite leaving a good thing behind. He’s starting almost entirely fresh, aside from one assistant coach who has been with him for a decade and drives from Greencastle every day.
There are new expectations in place, new facilities, new people in the community, and most importantly, new players to get accustomed to.
To say it’s a learning experience would be an understatement. Everyone is learning basically everything from scratch.
“Everything is new to everybody. That’s one hurdle that we have to jump,” Key said. “It’s going to take us a little while to get to where everyone is comfortable with everything we are doing, but I am not upset by the effort. They’ve really adapted, got some good leaders, and we’re learning how to lead the way I want them to. We’re getting there.”
The new coach inherits a team that, despite finishing 10-13 last season, won a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference title with a 6-1 conference record. They won a sectional two years ago but fell in last year’s sectional semifinals to New Palestine.
The roster has seen some turnover, and, overall, it’s a young team. The Cougars have four seniors, three of whom either aren’t playing this year or didn’t play last year.
Madge Weidner is out after tearing her ACL a few weeks ago. Keryna Barrett didn’t play last year. Haleigh Pribble is new to the team since the volleyball season ended a week ago.
That leaves Lydia McIntyre as the lone returning senior with varsity experience. She averaged 3.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game last year.
The Cougars’ on-court leader, though, will unquestionably be Farrell. She was all-county and all-HHC last year, averaging 14.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.9 steals per game. She led the conference in assists and was third in steals, and she led Hancock County in scoring as a sophomore.
“Hannah has really worked on her game all summer, all fall,” Key said. “Hannah’s been great, but we’re going to need some other players to step up, and I let them know that daily. We’re putting pressure on them, and we’re putting pressure on Hannah to lead.”
Farrell will be the team’s point guard, but positions are fluid in the Cougars’ offense. Some of the other players Key expects to play big roles can play basically every position on the floor.
McIntyre typically plays center in the Cougars’ four-out, one-in offense. Addie Hill, a sophomore, could be a center or a point guard. Crystal Peterson, a junior, is a guard who could play pretty much anywhere.
Both Hill and Peterson figure to see their roles increased from previous seasons. Key is counting on them to help Farrell this season.
“I think that Hannah and Crystal and Addie will be a big part of what we do,” Key said. “I think the quickness of those three will help.”
The interchangeability of each player into different positions should give the Cougars versatility, and their size — or lack thereof — and speed should add another dimension to the team.
“We’ll definitely be quicker than a lot of teams,” Farrell said. “I feel like since our team is so small, we’ll have really good dynamics and we’ll all know each other’s positions. That’ll be an advantage.”
The Cougars’ new coach is happy about more than his new scenery and new challenge. He said his new team has bought in, doing what he’s asking, which is vital during coaching changes.
He’s excited to have 22 girls come out for the team. The Cougars were down to just about a dozen players at one point last year with injuries, so the sheer numbers are a big boost for the program.
The team is adapting to its new coach, and so far things have been going well.
“I feel like practice has been going really good. It’s a different team, different dynamics, but I think we’re gelling pretty good,” Farrell said. “We’ve adjusted really well. He’s really easy to adapt to, and he’s been good at explaining everything.”
The goal for Key is to have his team be better than when they started in mid-October. He’s hoping to see the Cougars continue to improve every day as they seek the program’s 10th sectional title.
“When it’s all said and done, we’re trying to win a sectional,” Key said. “That’s going to be a challenge, but when you’ve got a player like Hannah, you’ll be in a lot of games because of her.”
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Coach: Bradley Key
Last season: 10-13, lost to New Palestine in sectional semifinal
Top returnees: Lydia McIntyre, senior; Hannah Farrell and Crystal Peterson, juniors; Addie Hill, sophomore
Key newcomers: Keryna Barrett and Haleigh Pribble, seniors
What to expect: This will be an interesting year in Greenfield, as Key brings a winning background with him from Greencastle and the Cougars have a fairly different team from last year’s HHC title winners. Farrell should be a player of the year finalist and one of the county and conference’s best players again. The challenge for Greenfield-Central will be finding the pieces to fill in the gaps around her. Hill got good experience last year, but a lot of the Cougars’ potential success hinges on how well the seniors step into leadership roles, with two of them being newcomers to the team. A season record above .500 is in the cards, and competing for a conference and sectional title shouldn’t be ruled out with this team.
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