New leader, new style for Royals

New Larkin girls basketball coach Alphonso Lott made what was a bold prediction considering the down state of the Royals program last year.

"We should win more games than we did through the course of last year," he said, then added, "we should be at least .500 this year with this group."

After a 2-22 mark, including a season-ending 12-game losing streak under former coach Amy Silverman, the Royals are looking for a rapid reversal under a coach experienced at numerous levels of the sport.

Lott has familiarity with trying to turn around a struggling girls basketball program. In 1994-95 at North Chicago, he took over a program that he recalled had gone "0-5" before he got there.

"When I say 0-5, they hadn't won a game in five years," he said.

They did win a handful of games his first season. Eventually he went on to get experience at DePaul under Doug Bruno, and at UIC. A former track and football coach, Lott also coached summer travel basketball teams and is approaching his new position emphasizing fundamentals.

Controlling the ball on offense without turnovers is one goal. The other is to lengthen the court on defense.

"We're going full-court man-to-man on defense with some other various looks," he said. "We'll run and jump and scramble and play some amoeba defense. It's going to be a lot of running.

"I think they're getting used to it now. You can see the difference. It seems the harder we push them in practice it only motivates them more."

Even with the up-tempo style, senior post player Stacie Beaver figures to have a big role. The 6-foot-1 senior has shown Lott "a nice touch with the ball. What's going to matter now is how she plays in the transition game."

Tatiana Holbert, a 5-9 senior forward also returns.

"Both of these two have been very impressive," Lott said. "It's a matter of honing their post skills to make them solid players."

Junior Corinne Wimmer, junior Arial Hendricks (5-foot), 5-6 sophomore Abigail Alvarez, 5-3 junior Maggie Koch, sophomore Maggie Hoffman (5-3) and 5-9 sophomore Jill Casebeer all are vying for playing time in the backcourt. Wimmer has been impressive at the shooting guard spot.

Freshman Allison Smith (5-4) is another possibility in the backcourt.

"She might have the best ball handling skills but it's going to come down to whether she can handle the pressure defense at the high school varsity level," Lott said.

Sophomore Heidi Kruz (5-10), junior Taylor Pflueger (6-foot) and sophomore Ta'oceana Smith (5-11) are potential frontcourt players.

Two other young players can go from guard to forward: 5-5 sophomore Mia Aguinaga and 5-5 freshman Paris Patterson. Junior 5-6 player Carol Garcia is expected to join the team in the second semester.