Roster numbers game finally goes the way of HCC's woman's basketball team
HAGERSTOWN — Hagerstown Community College's women's basketball team is back with a new attitude and a new look.
After playing with less than 10 players at the beginning of last season, coach Bernie Semler has 14 experienced players on the roster to open this one.
"Everything changes when you have numbers," he said. "You can actually run a full two-hour practice and you can scrimmage one another. When you're only carrying six or eight at the most, you really can't work on situations that are going to occur in the game."
Semler recruited both in and out of county and found a plethora of high-energy, dedicated players. Instead of having to pull from other teams at HCC like last season, he was able to find athletes with a main focus on basketball.
The first position Semler needed to fill was point guard, which the Hawks lacked last season. He found three: Tajah Goodman (South Hagerstown), Stephanie Gomez (Williamsport) and Brittanie Wray (Watkins Mill).
"Tajah has a lot of energy and a lot of desire to play and get better every year," Semler said. "I recruited Brittanie Wray out of Gaithersburg. She's very similar to Tajah. She's a little taller but she still has the same pep and energy to get everybody motivated and into the game.
"Stephanie's been a big surprise since we started this year. She can shoot the 3 and she can push the ball."
The point guards will pair nicely with the shooting guards, who Semler went out of county to find.
"Malerie Wratchford out of Spring Mills is a really, really nice player," he said. "She can handle the ball, plays good defense, (and) she has a good shooting range."
He also locked up Waynesboro's Chelsea Cover, a versatile guard.
"All year long we were working really hard to get Chelsea," Semler said. "She's a good ball handler and she has really good range."
Sarah Meiklejohn (Boonsboro), Cheska Knable (Broadfording) and Rokhyatou "Rocky" Sidibe (Watkins Mill) will be joining HCC's lone returner, academic All-American Hannah Loudin (Grace Academy), in guard roles as well.
"Sarah's a left-hander. She goes hard to the bucket with the left hand, which you don't see a lot of kids doing, but she can also shoot the 3 from outside," Semler said. "Cheska gets out there and she's really tough. She gets in there and blocks out the big post players. Plus she can shoot and she can handle the ball."
Morgan Henderson (Smithsburg) and Alexis Harris (Varina) will be splitting time as guards and forwards. Harris was first-team all-conference in Richmond, Va. last season.
Semler also has Tori Fowlkes (Loch Raven) and Ashley Oakes (Boonsboro) coming in as forwards. The 5-foot-11 Oakes transferred in from Shenandoah this season and can also play guard if needed.
One of Semler's major scores is former Division-I talent Cierra Therratt, a 6-1 center from Waldorf, Md.
"She played at Loyola University and she's been out for four years," Semler said. "She's the real deal. It's nice to have a D-I post player."
After a jamboree last weekend at CCBC-Essex, Semler was already getting calls from Division-I coaches about Therratt. Unfortunately, since she did not complete four seasons of eligibility in five years, she is ineligible to compete at that level again.
With all of the talent on his team, Semler needs to find a way to have the players work as a cohesive unit.
"They all have great individual potential," he said. "But right now, it's early in the year so I'm trying to get them to play together."
Something that Semler loves about his team and what he hopes will play to its advantage is willingness and desire to play.
"In the 50 years that I've been playing, coaching and refereeing, this is the first time in a girls program that when I come to practice they're out on the court playing," he said. "They just want to play. As soon as practice is over, they're out here playing pickup five-on-five. I've seen boys do that all the time, but I've never had a group of young ladies that was that hungry to play all the time."
HCC opens its season in Beaver County, Pa. against Mercyhurst North East on Saturday, followed by a matchup with Columbus State Community College on Sunday. They will have a total of 14 hours of driving over those two days, which Semler hopes will not be an issue.
The ultimate goal is to be ready for the Region XX playoffs in March 2018.
"Our goal is to get better every day so when we get to Region XX we're ready," Semler said. "I don't want to be ready at Christmas, I don't want to be ready at Maryland JUCO, I want to be ready for Region XX. If we can take the potential and turn it into production, we'll be good."