The Lady Archers basketball team signs two new players
Spencer Gleason
-Sports Editor-
Since the end of the 2010-2011 Lady Archer basketball season, head coach Shelly Ethridge and assistant coach Melanie Marcy have been working at improving on a 20-10 season. With their back-to-back trips to the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament without being victorious, the Lady Archers look to incoming players to help them over the hump.
“We look for a couple things,” Ethridge said. “One, they have to be a good mix for our program. We look for a certain type of athlete. They have to be good in the classroom. They have to fit with our personality and our style. And then it’s about basketball. Are they athletic? Are they willing to put in the work? Do they have a good demeanor on the court?”
The first two signees for the upcoming Lady Archers season came on April 23, when Kalah Martin from Kirkwood High School and Diamond Suggs from Cahokia High School inked their name on the dotted line for the STLCC.
“I hope I can contribute right away,” Martin said. “I hope I can be the rebounder and the defensive person. I hope I can be some energy. I just want to fit in with the team, just go for the ride and just play my game.”
As a 5-foot-9-inch guard, Martin averaged 7.5 points per game with 3.3 rebounds.
Martin’s counterpart, Diamond Suggs, is a 5-foot-10-inch guard who led her Cahokia Comanches to a 67-40 victory in the Gibault Candy Cane Classic championship game over Roxana, scoring 30 points with six steals, four assists and five rebounds.
“I get into a zone,” Suggs said. “I like to have fun out there, especially with my teammates. I just like to go out there and have fun and play hard.”
The family oriented atmosphere that Ethridge and Marcy have encompassed within their program caught the attention of the new recruits, being a selling point to them, as well as their parents.
“Being family-oriented caught my attention as a parent from day one,” Sugg’s mother, Tara Miller, 5 said. “That was a comfort for me.”
The Lady Archers family continues to grow and the feeling on the court is all positive, according to Lady Archer point guard, Shakaunna Futrell.
“I have seen some decent pieces that will be nice to add to the table,” Futrell said. “It is all good. I like what I am seeing.”
