Lady Bulldogs ready to buckle down on opponents

BY IVAN SANDERS STAR CORRESPONDENT

The Hampton Lady Bulldogs came on like a runaway train at the end of the 2021-2022 season putting together a fantastic season one year removed from being able to compete in a game.

Coach Brandon Carpenter is hoping that momentum his team built last season is ready to carry over to bigger and better things as a new season gets underway.

One reason why the Lady Bulldogs figure into the top of the pack in the conference this season is that they have gotten use to the way Carpenter likes to operate.

“The kids are a lot more comfortable with the things that we want to do especially on defense,” said Carpenter. “I think that as the year went on last year you could kind of see them developing. They have worked really hard and I hope that they can have a good season.”

With a team that isn’t too blessed with size, Carpenter knows that fundamentally his team will have to do the things the way they should be done when it comes to hitting the boards for rebounds.

“We are not real big but rebounding will be the key,” Carpenter said. “We have to make sure that we block out every

HEAD COACH: Brandon Carpenter

Assistant Coaches: Carrie Carden Jenkins, Lindsey Chambers and Tyler Chambers possession and don’t give up easy things. They are doing better in practice and have worked hard in the weight room so hopefully they can do that.”

The Lady Bulldogs return a wealth of experience as Carpenter will have all five of his players who started at the end of last season returning for another run with the ultimate destination of Murfreesboro on their minds.

“Maddie McClain, Linsey Jenkins, Macy Henry, Taylor Berry - all four of those kids started last year and Piper Helle came on at the end of the year and kind of rounded us out giving us that top five starters,” said Carpenter. “I think that one thing that will kind of separate us this year is that we do have some depth too in the way we play. We have eight to nine kids that can help us.”

Most teams that have squared off against a Carpenter-led team knows that the coach loves to see the ball moving quickly up the floor on offense and plays an in-your-shorts defense. Although his team excelled last season in those two areas, it was when the game slowed that caused problems which hopefully have been addressed leading up to this season.

“We are going to play fast paced pushing the ball on offense and force some turnovers on defense,” said Carpenter. “We have worked really hard on trying to buckle down on teams in the half court and I think that might be what we are a little better at this year that we couldn’t do last year. We could get teams in a full court game and play about anybody but if they slowed us down we had a hard time. I think that we have made some adjustments and this year are better suited to do that.”

Carpenter added that the main goal for the new season is simple - be better than the Lady Bulldogs were last year.

“I felt like we were kind of knocking on the door at the end of the year and with a break here and there and some special things could have happened,” Carpenter said. “We are just going to try to keep on working hard and get better every day and at the end of the year see where it gets us.”