Lady Eagles begin new era under Cunigan

   Brian Cunigan finds himself in a pretty enviable position as begins his first year as head coach of the Lady Eagles. The former Madison Southern assistant and Foley Middle School coach inherits almost an entire starting lineup (including a standout point guard and three experienced seniors) from a team that won 15 games last season. “We’ve got six upperclassmen with lots of experience,” Cunigan said. “These are girls that have been around the program for several years and I am familiar with them and they are familiar with me.”

   The Lady Eagles return almost every player that made significant contributions last season, with the exception of Alaina Hammonds, who transferred. Jeck, a 5-foot-2 point junior, averaged 14.3 points and 7.8 assists a game last year and continued to emerge as one of the best point guards in the district and the region.

   Seniors Paige McGuire, 5-foot-5 guard, Tiffany Willis, 5-foot-5 guard, and Sierra Merida, 5-7 forward, started almost every game last season and will once again be counted on to play lots of minutes. “Those three seniors lead by example,” Cunigan said. “They don’t say a whole lot, but they play hard on the court and they are tremendous role models for our younger players.”

   Southern started last season with seven straight wins, but a lack of depth started to have an effect later in the year, especially after the loss of standout forward Jenna Helton. The Lady Eagles are still relatively young and not particularly deep, so Cunigan will depend on Liz Hogwood, Courtney Harold and Alicia Sizemore and others to be able to step into the lineup and contribute. “They are going to have to play some varsity minutes,” Cunigan said. “They are going to have to learn through experience.”

   Cunigan took over for Harold Borders this summer after the long-time coach decided to retire. The former middle school coach had worked as an assistant under Borders and at Foley for the past five seasons and had also coached baseball and basketball at Jackson County High School.