Giants and Hornets start season

Finally, it is tip-off time. It will start tonight when Waynesboro girls’ basketball team plays against Wilson Memorial in Fishersville for the first game of the season.

For the Little Giants team, they are younger but sophomores LaToya Diggs, Jolie Dudley and junior Shanda Brown are returning and counteract against any inexperience on the floor.

Diggs is one of the answers to this season.

“Everything starts with Diggs,” said Giants second-year coach Secrett Stubblefield. “LaToya will have the most important position on the floor as point guard,” Stubblefield said. “She can break the defense down and she can do it all pretty much.”

Stubblefield was still sizing up her team, like the rest of the respective teams in the district before the first contest of the season.

“I don’t know too much about Wilson and their players. I know what we need to work on and what we need to do to have a winning season,” Stubblefield said. “I’m one of those coaches that maximizes on what we do. Right now, we’re just making sure that we’re all in sync.”

The Giants were a run-them-gun-them team last season.

“We probably won’t score as much as we did last season, but I’m confident that we can do well and the girls will step it up,” Stubblefield said. “We do have the speed.”

Rivals know that the Devon Brown factor is gone and so is the rest of the Little Giants senior class from last season. Wilson Memorial coach Jackie Bryan and the rest of the Hornets could take advantage of the younger team.

“I feel that too much emphasis is given on the first game,” Bryan said. “I’m aware that they [Giants] have a different team this season, but I don’t worry about that. We do what we have to do.”

Wilson has four seniors that are likely starters: Megan Boysen, Deidre Deacon, Lauren Dalton and Meg Emerson.

The Hornets will use quick hits with true motion offense and the team will stick to winning by defense.

“It all starts with defense. You win games with defense,” Bryan said. “That’s what we’ll continue to do.”

Stubblefield is relying on her returners and their experience at states last season.

“I think that the experience we had from being state runner-up last season will help us. I think that will help us more than a lot of people think,” Stubblefield said.

The two coaches will go head-to-head tonight at 7 p.m.