by Devan Matthews
Correspondent
The 2007-08 season was a successful yet rather frustrating one for the Bedford High School girls basketball team.
The success that the Bearcats enjoyed took the form of a 6-2 record within the Lake Erie League Erie Division.
However, there was a tinge of disappointment associated with that. The year before, Bedford captured the Erie Division championship. This season, the Bearcats were hoping to repeat as champions.
Instead, they finished in second place in the final division standings.
In addition, Bedford ended the regular campaign with an overall mark of 8-12. The Bearcats captured their first postseason contest, winning a sectional semifinal at Solon High School.
Bedford defeated Valley Forge by the score of 55-40 to advance to the sectional title tilt against Twinsburg. Unfortunately, the Bearcats were no match for the Tigers, who handed them an 81-48 defeat.
As a result, Bedford's final overall record was 9-13.
Another frustrating aspect of the season was that the Bearcats suffered more than their fair share of injuries, keeping key members of the squad out of the lineup. Then, once they returned to the lineup, there was a period of re-adjustment.
In short, Bedford never seemed to be fully able to get into rhythm and hit its stride.
This could have been termed a rebuilding season for the Bearcats, since they lost five seniors to graduation the year before. During that season, they posted records of 16-6 overall and 9-1 in the Erie Division and advanced to the district semifinals.
One of those senior players was guard Lydia McCully, who's now playing basketball at the University of Illinois.
This season, Bedford will lose three seniors to graduation. Among them are guard Asia Reid, forward D'Andrea McCall and guard Jazmine Byrd.
The good news for the future of the Bearcats is that they possess a very strong group of underclassmen, starting with a junior class that should provide a lot of senior leadership next year.
Among the members of that junior class are wing Shameka Harrington, post/wing Jessica Saffold, post/wing Andrea Boyd, guard Tiffany Shields and guard Cherea Wilson.
In addition, this year's team had three sophomores and a freshman who should provide major contributions in the future.
The sophomores are post Melissa Thompson, post Raven Walker and guard Alniqua Harper. The freshman is guard Stacy Smith.
So although Bedford fell short of its stated goals this past season (division title, district crown), the Bearcats appear poised to reach those heights again during the 2008-09 campaign.
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