ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLE BASKETBALL

SWENSON, PYLE, PRESCOT TO LEAD LADY EAGLES IN 2024/25

By Staff

            ELYRIA – Entering the 2024/25 the Elyria Christian girls’ basketball team will again be short on members but high in excitement.

 After finishing 14-8 for the 2023/24 season, the Lady Eagles went 8-1 in Wheat State League action before finishing the season with a loss to Hutchinson Central Christian in the Class 1A Division I sub-state tournament.

            Greg Fields enters his twelfth season as the head coach of the Lady Eagles with an overall mark of 141-99. Sarah Swenson will assist fields.

            Julia Allen, Makenna Cass, and Hannah Bower will be three players needing to be replaced due to graduation.

            A strength of the upcoming season will be the three solid returnees for Elyria including five-foot-eight senior Addison Swenson who scored 8.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 1.7 assists per game a season ago.

            “Addison (Swenson) has become a great leader for our team,” noted coach Fields. “I know that she will continue to be a positive example every day for her teammates as she plays with a tremendous amount of energy and her three-point shooting is something that teams have to account for.”

            Five-foot-two junior Grace Prescot will direct the offense from her guard position where she averaged 9.2 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.8 steals per game in 2023/24.

            Speaking about Prescott, coach Fields said, “Grace is extremely quick and is a nuisance for opponents when she is playing defense. By herself, Grace has the ability to break a press while being quick enough to get her teammates involved. Last season was a big step for her, and I am anxious to see what she can do as she has gained another year of growth.”

            The third top returnee for Elyria is five-foot-eleven sophomore Joy Pyle who rang up 6.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game last winter.

            Coach Fields gets excited talking about Pyle, saying, “Joy contributed a lot more than I expected as a freshman last season. She has a soft touch around the basket while having the ability to protect the basket on defense. If she continues to work on her aggressiveness, she will be a huge difference maker in a lot of games.”

            Like last season, the numbers are short compared to what the  coaches would like, but coach Fields still stayed positive in his final reflections for the upcoming season, adding, “I am looking forward to another year with this group of girls who love to compete. It looks like another year with small numbers, so every girl will have an opportunity to make some kind  of impact on the team either in practice or in games. We are playing some bigger schools this season, so we will be challenged several times which should help us prepare for the postseason.”

            The Lady Eagles will open the season on Friday, December 6 when they host Class 2A Moundridge before getting three games in the Goessel Bluebird Classic from Monday, December 9 to Saturday, December 14.

            Elyria will close out the pre-Christmas schedule with a home game against Reminton on Tuesday, December 14, and a road matchup with Hutchinson Central Christian on Wednesday, December 18.

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at macks.people.places@gmail.com)