The BSM girls’ basketball team is ready for a great season as they have 13 new players. The team only has five returning varsity players so they lost some experience, in the form of four of the five starters they had.  The 13 new players include four freshmen, seven sophomores, three juniors, and four new seniors.

The girls’ prepared for this season by playing AAU basketball during the offseason from spring to July.  They also have a summer camp that is three days a week for five weeks.  At the camp they do anything from shooting to lifting weights.  The girls also played in a fall league before the season.  “We play in the fall breakdown league to get back into basketball shape and get the mindset back,” senior captain Brooke Stanley said.  They have captain practices and workouts as well so that the girls can “get in shape and rid of the rust before the season begins,” Stanley said.

They also have a new coaching staff because their assistant coaches left after this past season.  They still have the same head coach, Bob Lyons, otherwise known as “Coach Bio.”

One of the two new coaches is Elliot Darden.  “He coaches us off the court if we don’t understand something and he helps with posts,” senior captain Abby Wilgers said.

The second new assistant coach is Coach Caroline.  “She helps us a lot on defense,” says Wilgers.

Overall they have a very good coaching staff that helps the team be the team they are.  “The coaching staff helps the team by keeping us focused, designing plays and drills specific to the needs of the team, and handling the drama that comes with a four month long season,” Stanley said.

They also have four captains that add more to the leadership of the team.  “We help these girls understand the plays or what we are doing.  Also we encourage them to work hard and participate,” Wilgers said.

These captains are seniors Katie Jo Schlueter, Yanie Powell, Abby Wilgers, and Brooke Stanley, and they have the most experience and have some big spots to fill with the seniors who graduated last year.  “We help the team by creating a positive atmosphere, leading team bonding, and setting a standard for practices and games,” Stanley said.

The competition for the girls’ will be lighter this year as they play their non-conference games, though the conference games will be a will be more of a challenge.  The big ones in the conference will be Chanhassen, Chaska, Bloomington Kennedy, Cooper, and DeLaSalle, and they hope to win all of them and think that they will stack up well as long as they don’t get many fouls.  “Chanhassen, Chaska, and Kennedy will prove a challenge due to their size in the post, but hopefully our speed and outside shooting range will carry us to victories,” Stanley said.  “Cooper and DeLaSalle, those are our school rivalries and no matter the skill level always end up being very competitive and buzzer beater games.”

The goals for the team are to make it to Section Finals and to come out of the season with at least a .500 record.  “We will reach this through hard work at practice, a lot of running to get conditioned for games, and having more intensity on the court,” Stanley said.

They are also hoping to make the season better by having a great team overall.  “Some goals for the team besides the obvious of going to State is to build chemistry as a team and play together.  We want to build a sense of trust on and off the court as a team,” Wilgers said.