by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com
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St. Joseph Christian girls are the coaches’ selection to win the GRC West Girls Basketball Championship for the 2023-24 season. Last season, they finished 3rd after winning the GRC West in 2021-22. The Lions captured six first-place votes. Defending GRC West Champion King City received two first-place votes and is picked to finish second. A newcomer to the GRC West, Princeton, received one first-place vote and was picked to finish third.
St. Joseph Christian
For most teams, a 20-win season would have been a
success. However, the St. Joseph
Christian Lions did not meet expectations last year. After coming off of a GRC West and District
Championship the year before, the Lions finished 4-3 in conference play (20-7
overall) and lost in the District Semifinals to Bishop LeBlond.
Although St. Joseph Christian did lose Forward Ella Bowman
(1st Team All-Conference) to graduation, they return a core group of
players led by Chloe Burnham (1st Team All-Conference, 1st
Team All-City, All-Area). Chloe averaged
21.9 ppg last year, trailing only Addy Henke of Princeton as the top returning
scorer in the GRC West. She also had 6.5
rebounds, 5.8 assists and 4.8 steals per game.
Other starters returning for the Lions are seniors Jaci Jorgensen (6.7
ppg, 4.2 rpg), Danika Wattenbarger (6.1 ppg), and Maya Freudenthal (6.1 ppg,
35% 3-pt shooter).
Senior Taylor Parmer, a key contributor off the bench, also
returns for the Lions along with junior Lexi McDaniel, whose season ended early
in the year with an injury against LeBlond.
Lexi will be starting at point guard for the Lions this year. Senior Genevieve McDowell is a newcomer to
the Lions. McDowell played for the St. Joseph Defenders homeschool team last
season.
Coach Erin Patrick said,
“Our expectations are very high.
We expect to compete for the GRC West championship, all three
tournaments (PVI, Fairfax, & North Platte) we participate in, and for a
District championship. We should be a
high-scoring and experienced team that will be competitive every night. We will have some more depth than we have in
the past. Our schedule is a little
unbalanced, with five early HOME games before Christmas break and only three
more HOME games after the break. We will
play one game at St. Joseph Civic Arena and Hy-Vee Arena.”
King City
King City Lady Wildkats had one of their most successful
seasons in school history last year.
They won the GRC West championship, won their own tournament, and
captured the District Championship. They
finished with a 23-6 record overall and 7-0 in conference. If they are to duplicate that success this
season, they will have to be able to find production to replace Taryn Hunter (1st
Team All-Conference, All-District).
Taryn was second on the team with 11.1 ppg. Kamdyn Carlson (2.1 ppg) also graduated for
the Lady Wildkats.
King City has plenty of talent to make another run at a
title. Leading scorer Zoe Tunks (14.3
ppg, 1st Team All-Conference, All-District, District Player of the
Year) will be back for her Senior year along with Senior Kaylee Roberts (2.9
ppg, Honorable Mention All-Conference), Junior Clare Staley (5.7 ppg, Honorable
Mention All-Conference) and Tacee Catlett (3.9 ppg).
Coach Ryan Anderson expects a handful of freshmen and
sophomores to compete for varsity minutes this season. He said, “I think we have the capabilities to
compete each night; even though we only graduated two seniors, our depth is my
biggest concern at this point. Hopefully, as the season goes on, we will be
able to define roles and rotations that give us the best chance to be
successful. I expect us to defend well and limit the other team's possessions
by taking care of the ball and not giving up offensive rebounds.
We have a lot of experience returning this year, but we are
going to have to have our experience mesh with inexperienced players to create
the depth needed to compete in the GRC West. There are lots of good teams in
the conference, all capable of winning any given night.”
Princeton
Princeton Lady Tigers finished 15-12 and 4-3 in the GRC East
last season. They are moving to the GRC
West this year but will be facing a lot of familiar foes, having faced 6 of the
8 GRC West schools last season with a record of 6-4. They will have to replace Klaire Buckler (6.1
ppg) and MaKenzie Dunkin (2.9 ppg), but the conference leading scorer, Addy
Henke (24.2 ppg, 1st Team All-Conference, All-District), will be
returning for her Junior season. Also
returning will be Senior Grace Kelly (9.8 ppg, 2nd Team
All-Conference), Senior Gracie Allnutt (4.7 ppg), and Sophomore Audrey Kelly
(1.2 ppg).
This year's newcomers for the Lady Tigers include Junior
Macey Lewis and a trio of Freshmen - Mikaylee Henke, Gracie Mitchell, and Kymber
Stark.
New coach Mike Schmidli says, “It will take some time for
our young players to get acclimated with our returning players; however, as
that happens, I think we will become more and more competitive with the better
teams on our schedule.”
North Andrew
This season, leading scorer Junior Madison Lillard (9.9 ppg,
1st Team All-Conference, All-District) returns for the North Andrew Lady
Cardinals. Still, they will have to replace their next three highest scorers
from a team that finished 2nd in the GRC West last season (6-1 in
conference, 15-11 overall).
Moving on are Cassidy Brittain (9.7 ppg, 2nd Team
All-Conference), Brylie Brincks (8.0 ppg 2nd Team All-Conference),
Riley Walker (6.9 ppg, Honorable Mention All-Conference), and Lily Smith (0.8
ppg). The Lady Cardinals will be relying
on Junior Ellie Lawrence, who sat out last season, and three players who played
primarily JV last season (Junior Piper Cook, Sophomore Teigan Miller, and
Sophomore Lillian Richardson) to step in and compete at the varsity level.
New coach Connar Powers said, “For this year, my
expectations are mental toughness and a good attitude. We are learning as a
team and coaching staff, and my expectations for the girls will be to learn
with an open mind, hustle, and continue our work from the summer to toughen up
mentally.”
Pattonsburg
Pattonsburg finished last season 12-13 and 3-4 in conference,
finishing 4th in the GRC West.
They will return their top three scorers from last season, led by Junior
Katelyn Jones (20.5 ppg, 1st Team All-Conference). Senior Kelsey Crabtree (9.2 ppg, 2nd
Team All-Conference) and Junior Kinsley Johnson (5.6 ppg, 6 rpg, 2 blocks per
game) will also return to the starting lineup.
Also returning will be two players who saw time coming off the bench
last season, Senior Jeighdynn Barraza and Sophomore Annabelle Gardner.
The Lady Panthers will also have two freshmen guards, Jayden
Gobble and Addie Iddings, in the mix.
Coach Lee Warford said, “We return our three best players from
last year, and we are bringing in two freshmen that should improve our team who
are both quick guards.”
Stanberry
Last season was an up-and-down year for Stanberry. They finished 13-14 and 3-4 in
conference. The season was highlighted
by a big win over St. Joseph Christian in a conference game and finishing 2-1
in all three tournaments they participated in.
The Lady Bulldogs will be entering the 23-24 season having
to replace Kiley Mattson (5.6 ppg, 2nd Team All-Conference,
All-District) and Katie Angle (3.8 ppg, Honorable Mention All-Conference). But returning for the Lady Bulldogs will be
leading scorer Amelia Wallace (16.0 ppg, 1st Team All-Conference,
All-District). Other returning players
for Stanberry include Lindsey Hailey (3.7 ppg), Trista Lager (3.6 ppg), and
Bella Wright (who missed last season due to an ACL injury).
Senior Katlyn James, Freshman Brooke Robinson, and Freshman
Josi Moffat are newcomers who expect to contribute.
Coach Taylor Wendt says, “Our biggest goal is to improve
from day one to the end of the season. We want to be competitive in every game.
We may be low on numbers, but this group of girls enjoys winning and always puts
in the extra work to be successful, which makes them so much fun to coach. We
are looking forward to having a successful season this year. We want to be
playing for a trophy in every tournament and finish in the top half of the
conference.”
Albany
After going winless and unable to field a team toward the
end of the 21-22 season, the Albany Lady Warrior's goal last season was to stay
healthy and be competitive. They
finished 5-20 and 2-5 in conference. They
look to improve on those marks this season as they return almost everyone from
the team that finished last season.
Albany will be led by a senior class including Addisyn
Crawford (4.8 ppg), Abby Troncin (7.0 ppg), Brook Wink (4.0 ppg), Jasmin
Valderrama (0.4 ppg), and Jenna Smith (3.2 ppg). These girls have a big part in leadership
roles this year, on and off the court, to continue to help turn the program
around and get back to a winning culture.
Talented Sophomores Jordyn Sterkis (7.1 ppg, 2nd
Team All-Conference) and Hayleigh Wink (3.6 ppg) also return for the Lady
Warriors. They both got a good chunk of
minutes as freshmen last year, and Coach Cody Weller believes they will keep improving. Junior Keylee Siddens (1.5 ppg) is also
returning.
Coach Weller expects the freshman class to provide
much-needed depth that they struggled with last season. Whether the freshman will see varsity action
is still to be determined, but the competition they will provide the
upperclassmen in practice will help tremendously immediately.
When asked about expectations, Coach Weller said, “My
expectations for this upcoming season are not really centered around a win/loss
goal but rather how we approach each day of practice and games. My expectation
for the year is that we come into each and every game and play with energy and
a purpose, and if we do that, the scoreboard should take care of itself.”
Worth County
Worth County Lady Tiger’s 8-win season was a 6-game
improvement from the previous season as they finished 8-17 overall and 3-4 in
conference. If they are to make a
similar jump this season, they will have to replace six seniors who graduated
from last season’s team. Top players who
will be missed include Ali Brown (8.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg, Honorable Mention
All-Conference), Hailey Adwell (3.6 ppg), and Taylor Sanders (3.5 ppg).
The top returning players for Worth County are Senior Kynah
Steele (8.6 ppg, 10 rpg, 3 spg, 2nd Team All-Conference) and
Sophomore Rylee Ruckman (2.8 ppg), who was the primary ball handler last
season. Senior Autumn Cousatte (5.0 ppg)
will return from injury and play a key role at guard.
Top newcomers expected for the Lady Tigers include a trio of
Freshmen: Kristen Tracy, who will play post; Kambree Briner, who is a guard and
ball handler; and Keira Hardy, who will play guard.
Coach Tiffany Bliley said, “We have nine girls on this
year's team, and I expect that you will see all nine of them in every
game. We are small in size, but I think
we will be able to use speed and aggressiveness to our advantage. I think we will come out in our games and be
able to compete against most teams. We
have a pretty solid core group of players that will lead this team well.”
North Harrison
North Harrison will rely on a mix of young players and
upperclassmen this season to continue improving. They will have to replace four seniors who
graduated last year: Leading Scorer Jayliegh Robins (10.0 ppg, 2nd
Team All-Conference, All-District), Trendi Johnson (7.3 ppg), Halle Morgan (3.0
ppg), and Raelynn Estrada.
Senior Jaci Davis (4.7 ppg) and Junior Kira Robertson, a
defensive specialist, return for North Harrison along with Junior Cameron
Fordyce, who suffered a season-ending injury in early December last season.
Newcomers who are expected to make an immediate impact are
Freshmen Lani Briggs and Jaxcyn Hansel.
Coach Aaron Long said, “We were unsure we were going to have
enough participation to warrant a girls’ basketball team this season, but it
looks like I should be able to compete this year, barring any significant
injuries.”
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