WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW: Northeast girls look to get back into TRL hunt

Northeast girls’ coach Scott Post has had success as a head coach but last season, injuries to key players caused the Vikings to take a step back from the top of the pack in the Three Rivers League.

“Last year was my worst at Northeast,” Post said. “We went 5-16 after winning 58 games (total) the previous four. We had too many injuries to key seniors. We ended up mainly playing young kids. We lost four or five games by 5 points or less.”

The Vikings will still be a young team this season. There’s only one senior but there are three juniors and three sophomores among the 11 out for the team.

There are four returning letterwinners. Haley Claffey (5’ 3”, Jr.) started every game at point guard last season and averaged 7 points per game. Jaiden Davis (5’ 7”, Jr.), who started most games, will help the Vikings with defense and rebounding. Cassidy Hegeman (5’ 9”, Jr.) came off the bench last season and will help with rebounding. And Rachel Fox (5’ 2”, soph.) was an All-TRL Second Team player as a freshman. She’ll be the Vikings’ shooting guard.

“Every other player is a first-year player except my senior, Ashlea Shaffer (5’ 5”), who played her first two years but not last season. She is a hard-nosed defender and plays with passion.”

Post also looks to freshmen Taitum Walker (5’ 8”) and Allyson Newport (5’ 1”) to make contributions. Walker is the younger sister of Autumn Walker, who graduated from Northeast as the school’s all-time leading rebounder and an 800-point scorer.

Claffey will be the starter at the point with Fox as the shooting guard. Davis is capable of starting at either forward spot while Walker could be either the power forward or the center. Newport could step in as the small forward if Davis is the “4”. And Hegeman could play in the post if Walker isn’t yet ready. Shaffer is likely to be the first off the bench in each game.

Expect Northeast games to be high-paced as Post says his team will have good speed.

“Our lineup will be one of the fastest in the area,” Post says. “We can shoot the long ball and feel our post play will be much improved. We are working on improved defense and if we keep our kids out of injury and foul trouble, we feel we can get back to being very competitive again.”

Post feels that last season’s record was a glitch caused by injuries that that his team will look to rebuild and get back into contention for a league championship.

“The league has had pretty good girls’ teams the last few years,” Post says. “We went 24-3 in the league from 2014-16 and finished second to St. Paul all three seasons. We dropped off a little in 2016-17 to 10-11 overall and fifth place. Now, we’re rebuilding to hopefully return to the top part of the league. We feel that is possible and starting a very young team will help us next year to take an even bigger step. We are very hopeful and excited about the future. We have a good group of junior high kids to replenish and fill in the next few years.”

Defending TRL champion St. Paul could have a surprise challenger in Southeast, Post says.

“I believe Southeast will be a contender to knock off St. Paul this season,” Post said. “St. Paul will be good as always, but they lost a lot. Southeast returns everyone. Pleasanton lost one good player but should be solid and Yates Center brings back almost their entire team. It should be an interesting year.”