After opening the season with three straight games on the road, the Mount de Sales girls basketball team hopes to show off its sharpshooting at home when the Sailors play St. John's Catholic Prep Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Mount de Sales opened the season with a 54-31 victory over North Harford before losing twice to Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference foes. The Sailors fell to defending champion Severn, 49-38, and Notre Dame Prep, 41-35.
Mount de Sales coach Trish Armstrong likes her team's shooting. "I feel like we've got a lot of firepower from the outside," Armstrong said.
Freshman Madison Burris (5 feet 6) and sophomore Bridget Williams (5-3) bring youthful enthusiasm along with long-range shooting ability to the backcourt.
"They are both excellent three-ball shooters and they handle the ball well," Armstrong said.
Junior Maise Birrane can also shoot, as she demonstrated with a team-high 21 points in the opener against North Harford. "She is a really good shooter," Armstrong said.
Birrane will be joined on the low post by senior co-captain Amanda Seidl (5-11), with senior co-captain Amanda Donovan (5-10) manning the other forward position.
Armstrong said Donovan is "a tenacious defender."
Seidl is battling an ankle injury, but freshman Lizzy Gower (5-9) has proven she can handle the heat underneath. "She is going to be really good," Armstrong said.
The other seniors on the squad include Susie Kelly (5-7), Abby Zalucki (5-4), Kristen Stark (5-1) and Maddy Fields (5-7).
Fields, a goalie for the lacrosse team, is out with a broken wrist
The Sailors hope for contributions from juniors Maddie Wrisk (5-9), Josie Whalen (5-4) and Sam Kenjorski (5-7) for help on the wing.
Freshman guard Karlee Stocksdale (5-4) should add backcourt depth.
"We have a nice mix of seniors and youth," Armstrong said. "And the future is bright with our freshmen class."
Besides the three freshmen on varsity, 10 of the 12 players on junior varsity are freshmen.
Armstrong expects her team to get better against tough competion.
"The conference really doesn't have any weak links this year," Armstrong said. "We are going to have to use our quickness because we don't have a lot of height."