Girls Basketball: Two Monarchs show there’s more than one way to rebound
Rebounding from the loss of its top rebounder, Amy Boden, one area that the Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School girls basketball team should not have to worry about, interestingly enough, is the rebounding department.
Thank you, Mairead Glynn. Thank you, Elizabeth Hartmann.
The Monarchs could count on nine rebounds per game last season from Boden, who was a four-year varsity player before graduating this past spring. Coach Jacki Paton doesn’t have to worry about where the rebounds will come from in Boden’s absence, though. Glynn and Hartmann have shown that they can get boards, even if the two senior forwards go about it in different ways.
While the 5-foot-8 Glynn uses her athleticism and jumping ability to grab the ball, the 5-6 Hartmann relies on positioning and power. Both styles have worked.
“For Elizabeth’s size, she’s a phenomenal workhorse,” Paton said. “She reads the ball extremely well and gets herself physically in a good position and works for it. Mairead will outjump people to get rebounds, not necessarily doing the physical boxing out first. One’s more of a physical player, one’s more of a finesse player. They’re completely opposite in the way they play.”
Hartmann, a Mattituck resident with two seasons of varsity experience behind her, was an occasional starter last season. Glynn, who lives in Hampton Bays, was a reserve in her first varsity season as a junior. Both, however, are expected to figure prominently in the team’s plans for 2011-12.
“They’ll definitely be getting a lot of playing time, those two,” Paton said. “Instead of one person, [the rebounds] will be distributed across the board. They’ll all get their own pieces.”
A junior, Danielle Gehring of Cutchogue, should also help out on the glass.
Glynn has played basketball since she was in third grade and is a former point guard with ballhandling skills. She has shown confidence in her play.
“She’s a very talented player,” Paton said. “The more she plays, the more she gets comfortable. She had those moves since her freshman year. It’s getting the confidence.”
The physicality of varsity basketball was a revelation for Glynn last season. “I didn’t realize how tough it would be down low, and Amy Boden helped me a lot with that,” she said.
Like Hartmann, Glynn is a volleyball player as well, but she said she has a passion for basketball and enjoys plucking down rebounds. She is a slashing player, anything but a typical low-post player.
“It’s tough sometimes going up against girls who are bigger than me, but I think I can definitely improve a lot more,” she said. “I think I need to be tougher down low. I think I improved a lot over the season, but there’s definitely a lot more room for improvement.”
Hartmann was presented with the team’s most improved player the past two years. Her demeanor on the court provides a stark contrast to the one shown off it.
“Even though she’s funny and jokes all the time, she’s very intense and focused on the court,” said Paton.
Nobody has to tell Hartmann that rebounds don’t come easily. It’s hard work, and one of the things the Monarchs are ironing out in the Town of Brookhaven Summer League.
“That’s just one thing we’re going to have to work on, and we’re just going to have to box out more because boxing out will help us get rebounds,” Hartmann said. “I think for us, starting without one of our top rebounders [Boden], we’re doing pretty good.”
Glynn and Hartmann were McGann-Mercy’s leading rebounders with seven and six, respectively, in a 28-15 loss to the Westhampton Beach Hurricanes in a summer league game Monday evening at Patchogue-Medford High School. In addition, Glynn scored a team-leading nine points. One of her four offensive rebounds came off a missed free throw that she turned into a putback.
Glynn also showed some nice moves around the basket. On one occasion she attempted a reverse layup that failed to go down, prompting her to scream.
“That happens every game, and I scream after every attempt,” she said.
Glynn hasn’t made a reverse layup in the summer league this season, but she is still working on it.
She said, “I’m going to try to get it by the end of the season.”
