The 7th and 8th grade Middle School Girls Basketball players entered their season focused and ready to play. With a large number of athlete participants, their coaches, were pleased to see their determination and teamwork shine through during their practices. “We have really improved as a team this season from our first practice to our last. Some of our girls played in a GNBL league prior to season so that helped so much with their ability to read each other on the court,” said Coach Karyn Nitz who coached 7th grade along with 8th grade Coach Kim Goettl.
“This group of girls have a lot of athletic ability where they can hustle! They did a great job of getting the ball down the court making for some great fast breaks. Our advantage is these girls can also hit outside shots. Exciting for them to hit 3s at this level! We played a man to man defense the whole season, working on being quick on our feet. This also helped us by playing as a team by communicating with each other.” Nitz added that she was impressed that even though they didn’t hold practices on Wednesdays, the girls completed home basketball drills that included ball handling and conditioning on their own time.
The Girls Basketball teams played fifteen games against Spencer, Cadott, Neillsville, Gilman, Thorp, Loyal, Greenwood, OW, Elk Mound, Fall Creek, and Colby with 7th grade girls consisting of sixteen players, losing only three of the season games to some great competitive teams. A few new experiences this year included participating in a triangular at Fall Creek and playing against some new teams as well. Nitz commented, “Seasons past we have played teams mostly from the east, so it was nice to see this year teams from the west were added to our schedule.”
Another fun experience for the girls was the opportunity to attend a Blugold basketball game offered to fifth grade and up. Nitz shared that the night was not only entertaining but also informative for the girls.
“The girls had fun watching the competitive basketball game and came back implementing some of the drills/moves/plays they learned while watching.”
They returned home with some skills and also some mementos as six of the girls returned with autographed Blugolds basketballs.
Basketball season may be over, but the 7th and 8th grade girls’ teams are ready to work. Nitz explains, “For the summer, girls will be participating in camps, 3 on 3’s, and possibly a summer league. Head varsity coach, Ryan Wundrow, hosts a SB summer basketball camp so we are hoping to see the majority of the girls participating and improving over the summer.”
She adds, “Great job to all the 7th and 8th grade girls this season!”
Congratulations to the players and coaches on a great year!
