Working to finish strong, Grace Christian girls basketball ready for postseason

STAUNTON — As Grace Christian prepares for the postseason, completing an unbeaten VACA conference schedule Monday night, the Warriors feel like they're in good position to repeat as VACA champions.

The Warriors have lost just three times this season — only once since Dec. 12 — and are playing well as the playoffs approach. They have one non-conference game remaining Thursday before the VACA tournament begins next week in Stuarts Draft at Ridgeview Christian.

"We want to make sure we not only have fun, but finish this year strong like we know we can," said Maddie Harper, one of four seniors on the team. "The memories throughout the years have helped us and pushed us as we've seen how much we've grown."

The team does have a new head coach this year, although Jeff Greenmun was familiar to Grace and the players before the season. He spent the past few years coaching the middle school and junior varsity teams. He was also an assistant boys varsity coach for three years. Starting in 2005, he's coached in some role at Grace for 10 years, taking off time in the middle of the stretch when his children were young.

Now, in his first year as the girls varsity coach, he gets to spend plenty of time with his daughter, Aubrey, a junior and one of three team captains for Grace.

"Probably I overthink things sometimes because he's the coach," said Aubrey, who also played under her dad at the middle school and JV levels. "But I like it."

Jeff Greenmun said he and his daughter talk a lot about basketball outside of the gym, so when Aubrey goes on the floor it's kind of like having another coach out there because of her basketball IQ.

"She's usually real familiar with what we're trying to do," he said. "It's been great. I try not to overload her at home, but I let her initiate some of that so I don't beat her over the head with it."

Program-defining win

The Warriors had probably their biggest win of the season — and one of the bigger regular-season wins in the past few years — on Jan. 24 when Grace beat Buffalo Gap.

Grace Christian doesn't get many cracks at the public schools in Staunton and Augusta County. They've lost to Staunton a couple of times in recent years. More than a decade ago Grace played, and lost to, Wilson Memorial. While it would be nice to see more local public schools schedule Grace, it just doesn't happen for a variety of reasons.

This year, though, Grace scheduled a home-and-home series with Buffalo Gap. The games provided a great test for Grace because Gap was had played for a state championship two years ago and reached the state semifinals last season. They are expecting a nothing short of a return trip to the state tournament this year.

The first game at Grace, in mid-December, didn't go so well for the home team, which lost by 19. Gap's press caused the Warriors all kinds of problems in that game.

"It was close until about the third quarter and then...," Maddie Harper said before trailing off.

Aubrey Greenmun finished Harper's sentence.

"We got blown out," she said.

Grace coach Jeff Greenmun said the loss, while disappointing, helped his team see where it needed to grow to be successful this season. In the rematch, at Buffalo Gap on Jan. 24, Grace fixed what had been broken the first time and picked up a 40-33 win. It was only the third loss on the season for Buffalo Gap and its first loss since Jan. 1.

"They are a good team," Gap coach Phillip Morgan told The News Leader this week. "They have a good mix of size and quickness. They can knock down the 3 and go inside. They play hard and aggressive. They are also coached very well. I was impressed."

Grace senior Lucy Wells said the win was big step for the team, mainly on the defensive end. She said the defense fell apart the first go around with Gap, and the team really put an emphasis on improving that area of their game.

"By the second quarter, our defense was working together," Wells said of the rematch. "It all came together."

Jeff Greenmun said the win, more than anything, helped his team build confidence.

"It gave us a peek at our potential and where we could be," the coach said.

Balanced attack

Friday night, in a win over Ridgeview Christian, Grace honored its four seniors. It was a reminder that this is the last dance, just a few weeks left to play together as a team, one that has had success over the years and wants to make one more run this season.

If they do make that run, it will likely be a mixture of players contributing. No one player is the star.

"We play as a team," Harper said. "We've been together so long that we just know each other."

Wells leads the team in scoring with 10.4 points a game, while Greenmun is right behind her with 10 points. Greenmun leads the team in rebounds with 6.6 a game with Wells not far back, pulling down 4.9 boards.

Jeff Greenmun played in the post during his playing days, and Wells believes that has really helped develop her game this year.

"I knew that a lot was going to be on her shoulders in terms of being asked to do some new things and develop new skills that will help us," the coach said. "She's really stepped up. She's doing some really good things for us in transition and she is super athletic. In terms of anyone who can match up with her height and size, she's going to be faster than."

Sisters Maddie Harper and Kaitlyn Harper are next in line for scoring, with Maddie averaging 8.8 points and Kaitlyn, who is a junior, scoring 8.5 points a game. The Harpers lead the team in both assists and steals, with the sisters averaging over two a game in each category. Greenmun is also near the top in assists.

Those four account for just over 84% of the team's points this season and anyone can step up on a given night.

The rest of the lineup includes seniors Emma Prochaska, who averages 4.4 rebounds a game; and Jessica Dryer; and juniors Graycie Kincheloe, Emily Vogan and Ava Schmandt. The juniors will be called upon next year to step up and replace the seniors if Grace is to continue its winning ways.

"We use all nine," Jeff Greenmun said. "Next year we have five coming back and some talent at the middle school level coming up. We'll find a way to scratch a team together."

But that's next year's problem. This year there is still a postseason to play and Grace is counting on being around for as long as it can.

"We just want to finish this last year off strong," Maddie Harper said. "We've worked so hard for it."

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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Grace Christian girls basketball ready for playoffs