Catholic Central girls basketball: Building something new
BURLINGTON, Wis. (BVM) — A new era has begun for The Lady Hilltoppers of Catholic Central High School. With the hiring of new coach David Beebe, along with assistant coaches Adam Mulheron and Erin Schwenn, the spearheading of a new direction and a complete rebuild of the girls basketball program has taken root.
The girls basketball team is from Burlington Catholic Central (CCHS); a small catholic school in Burlington with 130 students. Their current program consists of thirteen girls playing Varsity and Junior Varsity basketball for the school.
A quick history of the team shows one winning season – that being in 2018-19 with a 15-9 record, in the last ten seasons.
The new direction started suddenly as the new coaching staff was hired and began rebuilding the program just days before the 2020-2021 season began. Though it was a late start, coupled with the challenges of coaching a team during the COVID-19 pandemic, important groundwork was laid for establishing and maintaining a consistently successful program going forward.
The new direction consists of several new facets: Coach Beebe has installed several different sets for the Lady Hilltoppers. This is for several reasons: It stops teams from game planning for one simple offense and forces them to play more honest – having to be ready for multiple offensive and defensive sets, as well as out of bounds plays that have made the team more diverse and more competitive in year one of the new program.
Beebe also has made it a point to make the team look aesthetically better. Beebe, who owns his own clothing screen printing company has provided a budget friendly option that provides gear for the team and it’s fans, from warmups, and backpacks for players to carry their equipment in, to fan gear as well.
Additionally, Beebe immediately established a feeder program, ‘Junior Toppers’. The purpose of this feeder program is to begin developing players in middle school so they come in having established skills that need to be refined instead of taught. In the first year of the Junior Toppers program, 12 girls joined, and of those, eight will be returning next season.
Player development is a focus the entire coaching staff has brought with them. Position specific drills, such as ball-handling and post moves, game situations, fundamental drills including shooting, rebounding, and passing have been utilized more. These are important to have continued growth fundamentally within the program.
Holding players accountable for repeated mistakes is another immediate change that has been implemented. This forces players to look at themselves critically and serves the purpose of cultivating responsibility both individually, as well as throughout the program as a whole. Instead of a player being given a spot in the starting rotation based on seniority, they must earn their spot both in the rotation as well as the team by continuously working to get better.
As they look to the future, The Lady Hilltoppers have made having an increased social media presence a priority. Doing so not only informs both casual fans of the inner workings of the team, but keeps parents, the student body, and others informed of the Hilltoppers schedule, games, highlights, and more. This also helps serve as a powerful recruiting tool for future players.
CCHS has also focused on increasing fan engagement with themed nights. These themed nights are used to draw attention to the program, create a sense of pride, a sense of community, also is used as yet another recruiting tool.
Overall, the Lady Hilltoppers of Catholic Central high school is a team to watch out for. They are a team on the rise, making the Catholic Central Lady Hilltoppers a go-to destination for girls basketball in Wisconsin.
