WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: King Encounters Obstacles

BY SPENCER CAMPBELL
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Beth Raby was playing in a 5-on-5 scrimmage back in her hometown of Knoxville last June when she felt a familiar snap.

Lying on back, her knee throbbing, she hoped that her fears wouldn’t be confirmed.

But she knew. She had torn the ACL in her knee when she was in high school and this felt the same way.

King College women’s basketball’s leading scorer from 2007-08 would be out for most of the fall semester, be forced into a long and painful rehabilitation and could miss the Tornado’s first semester games.

It was just another telegram of disaster facing King head coach Michele Williams this past summer.

After winning her first Appalachian Athletic Conference championship last season, Williams’ celebration was short-lived. The Tornado coach lost five seniors to graduation, four of whom contributed heavily to the team’s success.

If this weren’t enough of a dooming harbinger, Raby then tore her ACL.

And then sophomore Anisha Buchanan, the team’s top post player and rebounder from last season (5.56), was ruled academically ineligible for the fall semester.

As a result, six new freshmen have entered the Tornado fray this season, and they’ve often played like freshmen in practice.

“I knew it was going to be difficult,” Williams said. “We lost five seniors and lost a lot of our leadership, so I knew it was going to be difficult bringing those kids in.
“I didn’t think it would be this hard.”

The frustration Williams is feeling about the remake of her team is most palpable in practice. The coach is always demanding and expects nothing less than last season’s level of effort, says Raby.
So when the Tornado refuses to box out (“they will not consciously do [it],” Williams said) at a recent practice, the King College alumnae lets them have it.

“Our first two scrimmages,” she said, “our first two games … we are in a world of hurt. If we don’t box out, it’s not going to be good.”

As any coach preparing for the tip-off to her season would, Williams readied the ship for Raby’s prolonged absence. Although hopeful, Williams estimated that her 5-foot-8 point guard would return with Buchanan at the beginning of the spring semester.

Raby was having none of it.

She spent months rehabbing — strength work, jumping exercises — and was almost offended when asked how the team might perform without her.

“I think it’s an opportunity,” she said, “but I don’t consider myself out for the first semester.”

True to her word, Raby was cleared to play earlier this week and joined her new teammates in practice for the first time this past Monday. She will see action in the Tornado’s opener this Friday at Pikeville.

During the season, Williams will count on Raby to provide experience and leadership to a team dangerously light on both. She will run the point guard position and be asked to shoulder an ever larger
chunk of the scoring load.

“She was our leading scorer last year as a sophomore,” Williams said. “And even though we lost five kids she was definitely one of our top players last year and picked up a lot of that scoring load.
“Even though she hasn’t been there through the conditioning, [our young players] know that she’s a good leader and they can look to her. She’s definitely going to be looked upon to score and be that leader for us.”

With so much of last season’s nucleus gone, the Tornado will turn to a mixture of rookies and returning players taking larger roles.

Senior Kristi Moody, a 5-foot-8 guard, started a few games as a sophomore before coming off the bench last season. She worked hard during the summer in both weight room and on the court, and Williams called her the team’s premier defensive stopper.

Jessica Tharpe transferred to King from Chattanooga State Community College and will be the No. 1 shooter.

Junior college transfer Ragan Elliott was a role player at Cleveland State Community College, but the King coaching staff believes that the 5-foot-10 guard could thrive as a scorer if she boosts her confidence.

“We have a lot of talented kids, freshmen and transfers,” Williams said, “but it’s still taking them a little while to catch onto what we want to do. They’re thinking a lot right now instead of playing.
“I want us to be playing our best in February, but I don’t think we’ve even touched what we can do.”

scampbell@bristolnews.com|(276) 645-2543