Who says you need lots of depth on the bench to succeed in basketball? Not the Republic freshman girls. They overcame an early injury to go undefeated, even though their roster was down to just five players.
After Madison Pullen was hurt two games into the season, coach Amanda Plotner made some adjustments, and her players bought into the system. Those five players–Asia Adair, Keana Adair, Michaela Moore, Bailey Pamperien, and Michayla Shanks–didn’t lose the rest of the way.
“This is a new concept for a lot of them. It’s different than what they did at the junior high level, because they beat people by 50 points,” Plotner said at the time. “But they’re really trying to pay attention to what I’m saying, and listen to the details.
“I’m happy to end the game with five players,” she said. “If I end the game with five, that’s a victory for us.”
They ended all their games with five players, and ended their season without another loss. For that effort you voted them #9 on your list favorite stories of the year at Republic Tiger Sports.
Original story: The Phenomenal Freshman Five
Photo Gallery: Republic vs Nixa, December 2011