By Curtis DeCora
Hayward-Wisconsin.com
Hayward Wis - The Gogebic Community College Women Samsons are riding a hot 7-0 start to the 2022-2023 season with just 7 athletes. Yes, you read that correctly, just 7 athletes. One of those athletes is Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School Class of 2022 graduate, Phoenix Corbine.
Phoenix was a 2nd Team All-Conference selection in the Indianhead Conference, after finishing with a 10-14 record. 2021-2022 was the first year the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School participated in a conference since the school opened in 1975. The Lady Migiziwag finished 6th in conference and put out two All-Conference performers.
After just 7 games as a Freshmen, Phoenix has become a big part of the Samsons' game plan averaging 5.6 points per game, 6.1 rebounds per game, and 1.1 steals per game on 50% shooting from the field.
When reached for comment, Phoenix states:
I’m really enjoying it. It’s a whole different experience in every aspect compared to back at home. Educationally, it has been a little challenging at times, the amount of work we get is difficult to keep up with sometimes, but I’ve been able to do it and maintain pretty solid grades in all of my classes. We’re coming up on the end of the semester and all of my classes are preparing for final exams so that’s pretty exciting. As for athletics, I am absolutely loving it. My teammates are some of the nicest people I’ve gotten to know while I’ve been here. My coaches are amazing people. The team as a whole is so supportive of everyone and everything, they are understanding and caring. Our team has become its own little family, which is very nice being away from home. I know that I can go to anyone from the team about anything and they’ll be there for me. Its really nice to be able to stay active and do what I love while also getting an education. Not to mention we are 7-0 on the season right now, which is an amazing feeling considering our team is all freshman and we only have 7 players.
The Gogegic Samsons are coached by Cole Schreiner, and in his first year with Gogebic has the Lady Samsons on a hot 7-0 start. Coach Schreiner on Phoenix, and her contributions to the team:
Phoenix has been a great addition to our program at Gogebic. She has a high standard for herself , which has helped speed up her development. Her confidence continues to increase which has resulted in her looking more comfortable every game. Her personality fits so well with our program because she's a good person, very coachable a great student, and has a great work ethic. We focus on making our players positionless and she fits that mold, but I really believe that starts on the defensive end. There have been games where she defends a post player and then the next game she guards a perimeter player. Her last couple of games, she's been playing very well, grabbing double digit rebounds multiple times. I don't think she has fully reached her potential as a player quite yet. This is probably the most exciting thing for her because she has been playing well and developed, but she can get even better. If she's playing at this level currently, I'm really excited to see where she's at by the end of the season and next season.
The Gogebic Lady Samsons, as previously mentioned, have posted a 7-0 start to their season which includes a winning the Bay College Classic in Gladstone, Michigan. The Lady Samsons are averaging 63.4 points per game, while giving up just 44.3 points per game, providing them with an astounding 19.1 points per game winning margin.
To learn more about, or follow the Samsons as they venture into the remainder of their season and hope to remain undefeated, visit Gogebic Women's College Basketball.