Summer Play Helping Knights

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The Castle girls basketball team’s winter season is still months away, but the Knights already are learning that there is, indeed, strength in numbers.

“We should have really good depth this year - we should be able to play a lot of players without much of a drop-off,” said coach Jeff McKeown. “We’ll have a lot of flexibility, so the main thing is just to get better. We’re not focusing on the team as much as we need everyone to get better individually - better with our passing, better with our shooting and better with our ball-handling, which was a big problem last year.”

The Knights, who returned to Division I last season following a spirited four-year run in DII, struggled to a 1-11 season in the OIA Red East Conference in 2008-09, but played their best basketball down the stretch, fueling hope for an improved campaign next winter.

First, they hope to get the most out of their summer season, which goes through June with morning practices and games three nights a week in the Pearl City Summer League. Castle faces Kapolei, Aiea, Waipahu, Mililani and Leilehua in addition to the host Chargers.

“Summer League will be good for us - there are a lot of good teams there,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll be more confident in everything that we do.”

The Knights return “90 percent of the minutes” consumed last season, giving the coach a far more experienced team than the one that greeted him last November. Of equal note is the collective height they have on the floor with four players stretching to 5-feet-10 or better.

“We’ll have good size and that hasn’t always been the case. Three or four of the 5-10 girls could play at the same time.”

With that in mind, junior-to-be Leisha Li’ili’i and sophomore Joshell Lilio figure big in McKeown’s plans. Li’ili’i, who is 5-10, is projected to be a starter for the third straight year, while Lilio cracked the starting lineup as a freshman last season.

“Leisha is expanding her game to be more of an inside-outside player,” McKeown said.“She’s a good shooter,and we want to give her free rein. She allows us to go with a large lineup.

“Joshell is another kid with a good inside presence,” he added. “She’s someone who comes in and works hard every day.”

Upcoming senior Nicole Aberilla and junior Brittany Lane also are veterans of the program and have logged a lot of playing time.As a four-year player, McKeown is hoping Aberilla will become the team’s coach on the floor.

“She’s a very smart player and she’s played every position here. Her actions are reflected on our team, so we’re looking for her to be a positive leader this summer and next year. If she does that, we should be all right.

“Brittany been our most improved player so far this summer,“McKeown added of Lane.“She’s a good rebounder with some size,and her shot has come a long way. She brings a good work ethic - she does everything that we ask. We’re looking for good things from her this summer and next year.”

Despite a tough season in their return to Division I last winter, McKeown liked the way his group stayed the course.“We were getting better at the end, and the kids kept playing hard all season. As long as the attitude stays good, I see no reason why we can’t be competitive with everybody we play.”

Castle returns to Summer League action this week at Pearl City with games versus Mililani on Wednesday and Aiea on Friday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. both nights.