As a transfer from Delhi, Bainbridge-Guilford sophomore Shania Vandermark took the fast track to the varsity level. Coming off a strong first varsity basketball season a year ago, Vandermark’s progress this season was derailed the first two weeks due to medical issues. B-G coach Bob Conway – and the rest of the team – couldn’t wait until she was back at full strength.
“Absolutely,” Conway said when asked if Vandermark was a missing puzzle piece the first four games of the season. “She gives us another scorer, and is just dominant on the boards.”
In her first two games back, Vandermark barely played more than a quarter in each contest. It wasn’t until last week’s Kazalski Tournament, hosted by B-G, that she saw the type of starting minutes that were expected from day one.
All Vandermark did was post a pair of double-doubles in points and rebounds, and in leading her club to the tournament championship, she was named the Most Valuable Player. Vandermark added a third straight double-double earlier this week, and is our Evening Sun/Smith Ford LLC Athlete of the Week.
“Truly, the tournament was the first time she saw any kind of real minutes this season,” Conway said of Vandermark.
In an opening-game win over a strong Unatego club, Vandermark scored a career-high 20 points, and grabbed 12 rebounds. In the finals win over Marathon, a contest in which she battled foul trouble, Vandermark scored 13 points and hauled down 11 boards.
Those types of performances, Conway said, should become commonplace as Vandermark rounds out her game. “She’s one of those kids who has a lot of athletic tools,” Conway said. “She is extremely fast, she jumps well, she’s physically strong, and she has a nice touch around the basket.”
Coming to Bainbridge-Guilford, Conway admittedly did not know much about his 5-foot-9 forward. Her highest level of experience was the modified level, and she began her basketball tryouts in late 2008 under junior varsity coach Tim Mattingly. Conway quickly noticed Vandermark’s ability, and after three days practicing with the JV, pulled her up to varsity.
“We look at the program and the good kids we try to advance them. We’ll place an eighth-grader on the junior varsity to give them time to mature,” Conway said. “Then we move them up to varsity the next year if we feel they are ready. To take a kid who never played junior varsity (like Vandermark), that’s the first time we’ve done that here.”
Vandermark blew right past junior varsity, but in the process, missed some of the fine-tuning players usually receive before ascending to varsity. As a result, Conway said, Vandermark often relies on raw athletic ability to get her by, rather than seasoned, polished skills. In time, the B-G coach said, Vandermark will indeed have that spit and polish on her game. When that time comes, watch out.
“Coming up last year, she’s been learning the game on the fly,” Conway said of Vandermark. “Every game, she’s learning more and more what to do, and what not to do. This year she’ll continue to grow and improve. We think she’ll get to the point where she’ll do pretty much what she wants to do on the floor.”