Fewer girls play high school basketball, coaches concerned

HICKORY, N.C. (AP) — When the St. Stephens varsity girls basketball team took the court earlier this month to face Watauga, Indians coach Roger Shield assembled a starting lineup that included two freshmen and a sophomore. He did it out of necessity.

This season, the Indians have a lone senior and only three juniors. The rest of the roster is filled with ninth- and tenth-graders who would otherwise be playing on the junior varsity team - if the school had enough girls to fill a JV squad.

St. Stephens is one of a handful of schools in the area that didn't field a girls JV team this year in what has become a trend for the sport.