Prep girls' hoops teams stress team building

All of the Tri-County Area prep girls basketball teams return a number of letter winners and players that varying amounts of varsity playing experience for the 2023-24 season.

But what they have not done yet or have at least started to do is make these units a cohesive team. That won't come until next year, mid-January at the earliest and maybe perhaps not at all. It would certainly reflect in their overall records.

This is due to the fact each team took some significant graduation losses to key players from last season. And several freshman are playing roles on some of these teams as well.

Augusta is a good example of this. They lost five letter-winners from last season's 12-12 squad to graduation, including All-Dairyland Conference players such as Kennedy Korger and Samantha Winsce along with Brittany and Lacy Bergmann and Cali Smith. Their most experienced returning players are seniors Olivia Meyers, their lone returning starter, and Neveah Bergman and junior Aubrey Korger. Five of the players on the varsity are freshmen (Cecelia Schroeder, Deagan Gunter, Brooklyn Krueger, Stella Zank and Stephania Bergman) and play significant minuets and do a significant amount of the team's scoring. Thus, so fare, the Beavers are winless on the season.

"They have a lot of potential but they still have to get there," second-season head coach Ashlyn Korger said. "They've made a lot of improvement since the start of the season but we're dealing with basically a new team with just a few experience players and a lot of younger, less experienced varsity players and thus it's going to take time to fix upon roles and p-layer rotations and knowing the game itself. They're still learning."

Eleva-Strum has the same deal in that the Cardinals have a significant amount of freshman on the varsity team, one of whom is their leading scorer so far in Avery Glenz. Other freshman on the varsity on the varsity and starting for E-S are Maddea Brown and Avery Spangberg and freshman Avaya Zwiefelhofer is one of the first players off the bench. However the Redbirds have more experienced players than Augusta does led by sophomore center Aliza Kulig, seniors Kassidy Koxlien, Anabel Howie and Annika Skoug and juniors Elizabeth Nordstrom and Olivia Spangberg along with sophomore Kora Gunderson. Graduating from last-season's 6-16 squad were all-conference player and top scorer Jaden Bautch, Maddy Bertrang and Olivia Becker. The uneveness in the roster has led to a 2-4 start, big wins over teams they match-up well with but crushing losses to those they don't.

"We are an athletic team that can play pretty good defense, but we will be looking to find consistent scorers," head coach J.B. Grangaard said. "That consistency has to be in our growth over the course of the season. Our goal is always to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season."

Neither Fall Creek and Osseo-Fairchild have freshmen they're playing right away but their rosters, like Augusta's and Eleva=-Strum are a similar mix of experienced and less experienced players and their results so far reflect this.

O-F lost three all-conference seniors from last season's 17-9 club: Madisyn Loonstra, Taylor Gunderson and Eleice Dahl along with Kaitlyn Skoug, Taylor Hammer, Rhiannon Prudlick and Trinity Knudtson. Of the Tri-County Area's four teams they took the heaviest graduation losses.

But the Thunder return letter winners such as Halle Colby, Chloe Gunderson, Hanna Giacomino, Haillie Knudtson, Addy Koxlien, Tymeka Eisberner and junior center Myrisa Pettis has made an impact so far is a newcomer to the varsity. They've helped Osseo-Fairchild compile a .500 record (3-3) so far for new head coach Gary Colby
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"We have a lot of players who been on varsity for the past three seasons but their game experience varies because they were playing on teams with a lot of veteran players, so they didn't get as much playing time," Colby said. "So they have to increase their game experience together as we go along."

And as they increase that game experience Colby hopes this cuts down on turnovers and any other mistakes.

"The team has shown a lot of heart and competitiveness even in our losses," Colby said. "Hopefully they can keep on developing that love of the game that will take us far as the season progresses."

Fall Creek has the most returning letter winners of any team in the Area, nine, from last season's regional champion and 19-8 squad. This includes Alll-Western Cloverbelt Conference player Jasmin Heuer, beginning her sophomore season. Graduates include All-WCC player Tori Marten along with Jenna Anders, McKenna Klawitter, Jenna Fitch, JaneyAnne Grossinger, Marissa Dunham, Lexi Gustafson, Riley Nicks and Megan Johnston.

But like O-F, the experience levels varies depending on overall playing time from some deep squads over the past few season for players such as juniors Kennedy Tumm, Anna Dougherty and Gracie Marten and seniors Elena Raffensberger, Emallie Sorensen, Caroline Grossinger, Averie Barka and Kambel Sell. That too has led to an uneven 4-2 start aga9inst a tough early-season schedule although the Crickets have easily won their last two ballgames.

"We're getting there," head coach Jason Martzke said. "We've improved on offense doing a better job moving the ball and knocking down the good shots when he take them and our defense has improved. We're doing the little things better. Now we have to continue that growth for now until the end of the season."

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