The girls’ basketball team has an imposing resume. Star players fill the lineup up and down after a state championship season this past year. With a difficult schedule coming up this year to challenge all the star talent they were hit with the injury bug which causes both struggles and some benefits as well.
The girls were looking to get off to a hot start only for their star players to be bombarded with injuries. Still, as leaders, they continue to make their presence known. “I continue to lead by pulling aside teammates to give them suggestions on things that I see that they may not see. I try to talk to people on the bench to get them to be louder to help the team, I also will talk to my coach about things to make suggestions about the team,” junior Kendall McGee said.
The girls have a super tough schedule to challenge themselves this year. With their record showing them to be struggling a lot more than they are, the sky is the limit for these girls in the closing part of the season. Their senior captain Olivia Olson returned to play scoring her two thousandth point after suffering a hand injury. The return of Olson will play a pivotal role in turning the season around. “Olivia is back now after her surgery, which is huge–scoring her 2000th point the other night. Kendall has been working extremely hard to get into playing shape. We are hoping to see her back in practice in late January here and praying she is up to full game speed come the end of February,” head coach and math teacher Tim Ellefson said.
In the absence of these stars, other players have had to step up. Many players young and old have taken huge steps to help the team through this tough time. “Kate Kapsner, her leadership has been very valuable. Zahara Bishop has taken on that scoring role being the lead role the heart and soul of the team in Olivia’s absence. Another player that has continued to step up is freshman Sydney Friedly who has varsity experience from last year,” Ellefson said.
There have been some benefits with them being out, giving other players a chance to step into those roles and succeed.”
— Tim Ellefson
The effects of the injuries have been hard to deal with, but with the struggles, coach Ellefson can see the benefits as well. “There have been some benefits with them being out, giving other players a chance to step into those roles and succeed. With Olivia being out, we have had to adjust how we score. [This is] strictly because when Olivia is playing, she causes so much attention making it easier for other players to score, so that has been an adjustment. We had a very challenging schedule too, so we could challenge our girls especially our top girls Olivia and Kendall so without them we have had to adjust a lot,” Ellefson said.