It?Äôs again time to lace up the high-tops, polish the floor, and secure the nets, as another basketball season rapidly approaches. Student athletes are chomping at the bit to get the winter competition under way, and coaches are optimistic as they look forward to successful journeys.
Kimball girls?Äô basketball
The Kimball girls?Äô basketball team is getting ready for yet another exciting season. Last year?Äôs varsity team finished with 16 victories, the most wins since the Lady Cubs?Äô 2002-2003 season.
?ÄúThe most notable memory from last season was our playoff run to the sub-section championship game, which culminated in a heart-breaking 52-48 loss to B-B-E, ending our fantastic season, and leaving us as sub-section runner up,?Äù recalls Coach Jeremy Kuechle. The Lady Cubs finished the season with the sub-section?Äôs number-one defense, leading in points allowed per game. The girls also claimed stake to Team Academic All-State Honors, another outstanding accomplishment. Last year?Äôs graduating seniors Emily Donnay, Hannah Serbus, and Madelyn O?ÄôBrien will be missed, as each played significant minutes for the Cubs.
Looking to fill those vacated minutes are a plethora of talented, returning players: seniors Taylor Schreiner, Denzel Atherton, Ariel Laabs, Madison Libbesmeier, and Rebeckah Holtz; juniors Madison Hurrle, Emily Utecht, Alexa Ruehle, Alyssa Zabinski, Katelynn Loehrer, and Caitlin O?ÄôBrien; sophomores Abbey Schiefelbein, Mackenzie Leither, Katie Merchant, Alexis Streit, Trinity Erickson, Kira Schaefer, Makayla Epple, Hannah Ehlinger, and Mariah Fennema; freshmen Erin O?ÄôBrien, Rachel Merten, Ashley Schindele, Sydney Schreiner, Holly Berscheid, and Rachel Utecht. Practice begins Monday, Nov. 16, and the MSHSL State Tournament is March 15-19.
This year?Äôs coaching staff is as follows: Jeremy Kuechle, Varsity; Joe Stangle, JV; Brianna Barrett, C-Squad; Crystal Donahue, Eighth grade; Barry Strand, Seventh grade. ?ÄúWe again look forward to the challenge of building competitive teams and invite you to come and watch these student athletes perform at a high level that they will work very hard to achieve. Go Big Blue!?Äù ?Äì Coach Jeremy Kuechle.
Kimball boys?Äô basketball
Having lost seven players to graduation (four of whom were starters), Kimball returns two letter winners, Dunkin and Darius Westrich. Other players back for action are seniors Cole Czech, Sam Ehlinger, Ortega Mohamed, Diego Sbrolla; juniors Del Guerrero, Keali?ÄôI Kapoi, Parker Peglow, Levi Sodergren; and sophomores Hunter Ahlrich, Hayden Gagnon, Braden Hilary, Weston Hine, Michael Hoffmann, and Brady Sanders.
Kimball?Äôs coaching staff consists of varsity head coach Jay Klein, 10th year (24th year overall); JV coach Rick Hendrickson, eighth year; C-squad coach Aaron Laabs, third year, and assistant coach Neil Helgeson, first year.
As always, the competition promises to be top notch, in teams like conference rivals Pierz, Howard Lake-W-W, EV-W; and section teams Browerville and Upsala.
?ÄúWe are going to be young and inexperienced. We lost seven of our top nine players from last year and more than 2,600 career points between two of those players. Our players worked hard in the off season to improve. Once we learn to play together, I think we can be very competitive. I am very excited to work with a great bunch of student/athletes.?Äù ?Äì Coach Jay Klein, Kimball boys?Äô basketball.
EV-W boys?Äô basketball
?ÄúWe are losing our top two scorers from last season in Bret Mattice (20.5 ppg) and Jared Streit (17.7 ppg); along with Austin Schlangen (6.8 ppg), so we have some huge shoes to fill,?Äù said Coach Adam Langer. Helping in that shoe-filling role are returning starters Reese Jansen (junior guard) and Jacob Streit (junior forward); with the top three bench players Travis Thielen (senior guard), DeShaun James (senior guard) and Greg Lux (junior forward).
?ÄúSo the top five we have coming back are very hungry to make another run like last year; deep into the playoffs,?Äù Coach Langer said. Reese Jansen (9.2 ppg), is the floor general and leader on the court at the point guard position.
Coach Langer looks for Jansen to excel in his excellent shooting, passing, and ball-handling abilities again this year. Jacob Streit (6.3 ppg, 4.7 rebounds per game).
?ÄúJacob is a unique basketball player in that he can shoot from outside, attack the rim off the dribble, and post up on the block. He will be asked to defend all five positions at some point this season, and I am very confident that he will accomplish that,?Äù Langer said. According to the skipper, Travis Thielen is one of the best ball defenders he?Äôs ever coached. He will be asked to slow down the opposition?Äôs best player. Additionally, Thielen possesses offensive skills as well, and he can be lethal from the 3-point line. DeShaun James will play big minutes this year. He is super quick and can get to the basket at any time. Greg Lux will be anchoring the post.
?ÄúGreg is an excellent rebounder and runs the floor very well. We are going to look to take advantage of Greg?Äôs quickness and get him up and down the floor,?Äù added Coach Langer.
Other players who are in the mix for playing time: Blaine Fodstad (junior guard), Mitch Molitor (junior guard), Zach Swenson (junior guard), Dominic Schlangen (sophomore forward), Landon Schlangen (sophomore guard), and Matt Notch (sophomore forward).
The 2015-16 high school basketball season promises to be a highly competitive and fun-filled experience for participants and fans alike. Full schedules are available for perusal on the individual school?Äôs websites or by visiting the Minnesota State High School League website at http://mshsl.org/mshsl/index.asp.