After finishing second in the ACAC last season, Isabella Stout relishes the chance to witness the view from the top.
One of two returning seniors that garnered all-ACAC honors last season along with fellow frontcourt mate Maryn Schreiber, Stout hopes Bluffton can finally ascend past conference stalwart Jay County to reign as the best in the league.
appLast season really showed what we can do, especially with our new coach (Doug Curtis), and we have a few incoming players that will really contribute to our team and help us go farther than we did last year,app Stout said.
Curtis has enjoyed a lengthy track record of success, guiding four area programs app Angola, DeKalb, Northrop and Adams Central app to sectional championships before taking over the Braves. He increased his win totals in each of his second seasons, and, in his 20 combined seasons, heapps seen many successful players play a variety of positions.
Curtis said Stoutapps ability to play a variety of positions based on what is required in each game makes her a bit unique.
appThis Bluffton team, for me, is a different kind of team to coach,app he said. appIappve coached a lot of guards and definitely a lot of good post players. We have a lot of wings that donappt have great size but they have decent size. They can put the ball on the floor, get to the hole, shoot the three and different things like that.
appThatapps what she brings. Sheapps a hard-nosed kid that likes to post up, she likes to drive the ball. She can play anywhere from a guard to a four. I think sheapps going to add (the 3-point shot) to her game and help us spread the floor.app
Though she sees time in the backcourt, Stout admits ball handling wasnappt a strength in the past. At 5-foot-8, her size can make her a matchup problem against smaller guards, so she has focused on playing with the ball in her hands following a 17-7 season that saw Bluffton lose to eventual Class 2A state champ Bishop Luers in the sectional semifinals.
appI was never the best ball handler, but I definitely started working on it,app Stout said. appThere will be plays set up for me to run where I have to dribble the ball down the floor, and I lacked confidence in that last year.app
Her new-found confidence has served as a uniting theme for Stout and her teammates entering their second year under Curtis. As the coach explained, much of it stems from a greater understanding of roles due to experience app along with a roster that returns nearly everyone.
appI thought we played a totally different summer than the summer before,app Curtis said. appThat has a lot to do with year two in the system. They already know their roles, and theyappre getting better at it.
appI think all of that kind of led into the success we had this summer, but I was a lot happier with the summer as far as big games and how we played in those games, and I think thatapps going to lead to what weappre trying to get accomplished.app
See also app Jay County still the hunted in ACAC Pag4B
