Balancing act: Merced College guard can make teams pay for doubling post

As the ball quickly swung around the perimeter, Allen Huddleston shouted out one simple instruction.

"Get your feet set."

Sophomore guard Courtney Whitehurst obliged, shifting into a shooting position just before the ball landed in her hands.

In one fluid motion, Whitehurst caught the ball and launched a 3 from the top of the arc.

Swish.

It was the start of a banner night in which Whitehurst dropped a career-high 15 points against Porterville last weekend.

For good measure, Whitehurst added 10 rebounds and two assists.

It was a performance that's been two years in the making and one Huddleston's going to need to see repeated if the Lady Devils are going to dig themselves out of the 1-2 Central Valley Conference hole they've dug.

"The main thing I've talked about with Courtney is just look to be aggressive," Huddleston said. "She has tremendous speed and can get to the basket. Then when the defenders start falling off of her she has a lot of room to knock down shots.

"Sometimes our guards get so dependent on Linda (Murray), they forget to take their shots."

Finding a balance has been a problem all season for MC (8-13) and it's led to inconsistent play.

Murray's dominance on the inside has drawn extra attention from defenses, but MC's guards haven't routinely taken advantage of the extra space.

Whitehurst knows it's a role she needs to fill.

"I showed against Porterville how I should be playing," Whitehurst said. "It's what coach expects of me and it's what I expect of myself.

"I've always been a decent scorer, but some times I forget to look for my shots. It's something I need to keep working on."

Whitehurst's contributions have become all the more important after Wednesday's loss to College of the Sequoias.

It dropped the Lady Devils to third in the CVC standings and has left them very little margin of error with only two teams advancing to the playoffs.

"Courtney is probably our best rebounding guard, so told her I want double-doubles the rest of the way," Huddleston said. "It's a lot on her shoulders, but I know she can handle it."

The other thing Huddleston wants to see more of is Whitehurst using her blazing speed.

"Courtney is very fast," sophomore guard Alyssa Wright said. "It lets her play strong defense and then run the floor for easy baskets. Pushing the ball up the court is something we all have to improve on and she can be really good at it."

It's also where Whitehurst feels the most comfortable.

"I definitely like getting in the lane and going at the basket," Whitehurst said. "It's another thing I need to try and do more.

"I feel like I've come a long way from last season, now it's time I start proving it."