Clipper 22.NOV.07

WOODS CROSS — Ready for another basketball season, Woods Cross girls basketball coach Mitch Smith has high hopes for his team this year.

“We want to make state,” said coach Smith. “We also want to win games in state.”

After finishing with a 13-8 record, good enough for second in their region, they were bounced from the playoffs in the first round last year against Provo High School. But this year they have a very deep roster, led by Jamie Mokofisi, Mikelle Leavitt, and Brittnee Smith, who play power forward, shooting guard, and point guard respectively.

Smith, the coach’s daughter, averaged five points and two assists last year.

“It’s fun to coach Brittnee,” Smith said. “We have a great relationship.”

Smith added that his daughter does often catch the wrath when things don’t go well on the court.

“I’m harder on her than anyone else, which I guess we as parents do,” Smith said. “She understands that when we are at practice or a game I’m going to get after her.”

As for home, basketball is not the main subject over the dinner table.

“We have good boundaries about basketball,” Smith said. “We do a good job of leaving sports at school and when we’re home it’s just like any other father-daughter relationship.

“Basketball is one small part of our lives, but when we are on the court it’s all business.”

Fortunately, daughter Smith has plenty of support on the court as the Wildcats will be looking to do more with senior player Mikelle Leavitt, who averaged nine points and five assists for the Wildcats. Jamie Mokofisi, a junior ex-pected to start at power forward and has a brother playing for the University of Utah football team, averaged 12 points and nine rebounds a game.

While the other positions have yet to be filled, Coach Smith feels this is a very good team this year to get further into the playoffs.

“We have a very deep roster,” Smith said of his team, “I feel we could go deeper and have a better record than last year.”

The pre-season will be a time for Smith the coach to tinker with his team to find the best possible chemistry for Region 5 play.

“We have some players who look great in practice, but I haven’t seen in a game situation,” Smith said. “We’ll be looking to get our team figured out so when we start Region play we are ready with our best rotation.

“I have been very happy with the team’s work ethic and how quickly they are picking things up. This team has a lot of potential to do well in Region 5 play and in the state tournament.”