Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs girls basketball coach John Ameen hasn't been on the job long, but he likes what he has seen.

"You never have enough to do what you want," said Ameen, who was hired on Oct. 26. "With a new system and new head coach it takes a while to adapt, but I am very pleased with the progress so far."

Ameen, who previously was an assistant for the boys basketball team, said his three weeks on the job have gone quickly. Ameen held a conditioning camp the week after he was hired that focused on a lot of basic skills.

With the first game on Dec. 1, Ameen said the team is now focused on offensive and defensive sets.

"We're having fun," senior Torie Christensen said. "We're learning a lot of new plays and sets. Plus, all of the girls on the team are real tight. We don't have any issues at all."

"Practices are a lot more intense," added senior Shannon King. Having him as a teacher and already knowing him has helped. It's not like a stranger taking over."

One concern for Ameen has been the number of girls who showed up to play. The Sailors had only 17 girls try out for the program this year and Ameen said while he would like to have seen the numbers up, it also provides an ample amount of opportunities for the underclassmen.

"It's going to maximize the number of minutes girls at the lower levels can play," he said.

The plan is to keep 12 on the varsity and have junior varsity "B" and JV "C" teams. Ameen said he expects to keep 12 girls on the varsity level but could have a rotation of all the girls on the team moving up and down.

"We still have two weeks to work things out," he said. "With the numbers, I can't say if we'll be up-tempo or down-tempo, but we'll be able to change depending on who we play. We'll be able to do a lot of different things."

- To reach Luke Graham, call 871-4229 or e-mail lgraham@steamboatpilot.com