Orangeville girls basketball relevant for first time in 25 years thanks to junior forward
Whitney Sullivan is 6-foot-2. She is left-handed. And she plays more like a guard than a center.
“What she does is not typical for a girl her size,” Orangeville coach Jay Doyle said. “She is a hard matchup.”
The junior forward has helped make Orangeville girls basketball relevant for the first time in 25 years. The Broncos were an early small-school area power, winning nine regional titles between 1983 and 1997. But they haven’t won a regional since. Nor had they won 20 games since — until Sullivan led them to a school-record 27-5 season as a sophomore last year.
Now Orangeville (8-3 after a loss to Lena-Winslow in the Pearl City tournament Dec. 9) is back for more, led by Sullivan and sophomore guard Laney Cahoon. Sullivan averaged 12 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks last year, while Cahoon averaged 9 points, 4 assists and 5 steals.
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They give the Broncos two versatile building blocks to contend in one of the toughest areas of the state. One of their losses this year is to No. 1-ranked Galena. And they will again have to play in a regional that included four 20-win teams last year with Orangeville joined by Stockton, Lena-Winslow and River Ridge/Scales Mound.
Making Orangeville a team to watch
Orangeville may be the local NUIC team to watch most. The Broncos start a freshman, two sophomores and a junior and all their top reserves are sophomores. And Sullivan is the reigning NUIC North player of the year.
“Our best basketball is ahead of us,” Doyle said.
One of the things that makes Orangeville so good is that Sullivan can help in the backcourt as much as the frontcourt. Especially when opponents try to press.
“Whitney can bring the ball up against pressure,” Doyle said. “She will even play point guard for us some. Normally, teams put a big on her, but she can dribble the ball up and take that pressure away. Or grab a defensive rebound and lead the break for a layup. She can hurt you in a lot of ways.”
“When I was younger,” Sullivan said, “I worked on my handles a lot more than I did my post moves. That’s how I am used to handling the ball. I didn’t have to learn that when I was older. I had it going in, so it wasn’t a struggle for me."
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A shot to win every game
Sullivan isn’t a big scorer yet. But she is at the center of Orangeville’s offense, averaging 14 points and five assists.
“When she gets a challenge,” Doyle said, “she rises to it. She doesn’t put up 30 or 40 points, but she is very consistent in what she does and is a very unselfish teammate.”
As big as Sullivan is for Orangeville on offense, she is an even bigger key to the Broncos’ defense, averaging 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.
“We normally play a zone,” Doyle said, “so many of her blocks are not against somebody she is guarding. She has a great knack for it and doesn’t get in foul trouble. Some people are jumping and swatting, but she jumps straight up when she blocks shots. She always puts herself in good position.
“She does so many things for us,” Doyle said, “that every game we have a shot to win with her on the court.”
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Orangeville's Whitney Sullivan is a 6-2 forward who plays like a guard
