Five 2A Teams Who Will Be Improved
Up next in our daily season preview articles are the five 2A teams who I think will show the most improvement in terms of gained wins. I only looked at the teams who had a winning percentage of under .500,…
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Continue ReadingUp next in our daily season preview articles are the five 2A teams who I think will show the most improvement in terms of gained wins. I only looked at the teams who had a winning percentage of under .500, and excluded the .500 teams from a year ago. The 10th article in a series of 73 highlights the five squads who I think will increase their win totals the most. Tomorrow I’ll have the five 3A teams who finished under .500 last season to keep an eye on.
Hudson (10-11 last season)
Last season Hudson wasn’t really all that bad. They went 10-11 and played pretty much each game close. Some of their wins were very close games, but so were some of their losses. They likely finished right about what they should have. This upcoming season will be better for them as some of their scheduled teams got a touch worse while Hudson improved. Only losing two seniors out of a group of 13 varsity players is a huge boost for the 2019-20 season. Neither of those two seniors were in the top six in scoring for Hudson this past season. That means the bulk of their scoring is coming back (they only lose 3.1 points a game), and they all have an extra year under their belts. Hudson had a well balanced attack last season led by Jessica Carolan, a junior with two years left. Right behind her in the scoring column were seniors Maddie McKenna, Morgan Galbraith, and Abby Gaudian as well as juniors Ashlynn Kuhn and Sara Hansen. These five players will lead the charge again this year and all scored between 8.9 and 3.5 points a game last season. Look for Hudson to take a step forward this year on the back of an experienced roster and I look for them to contend for a state tournament appearance.
Wayne (8-13 last season)
If you are looking for teams who have the best chance of winning more games, it’s easy to start by looking at the high schools who start with a “W”. This is going to be a very interesting team to keep tabs on over the next three years as their top players are just sophomores. The problem with the group last season was just a lack of ability, and confidence, to shoot the ball. Wayne shot just 20.8 percent from the perimeter and 33.3 percent from the floor. A lot of their losses were in blowouts but with their experience returning and their schedule getting a bit easier, I think this year is going to be much better. This season Wayne will need to shoot the ball better as they are a very small team across the board. 15 players saw varsity time last year and only two were seniors. They were led by Emily Jones and Sterling Berndt with 12.6 and 8.3 points a game respectively. The sophomore duo should be even better this year as they look to lead the team. Senior Rayleigh Snyder will also be back along with her 7.3 points a game last year. Those three will create a formidable trio at the top and lead this team to a record above .500. There are other options as well on the team and if one emerges as a fourth option, this is a group that could be dangerous.
West Central Valley (5-16 last season)
West Central Valley and Wayne have some key similarities. Both have key players that are sophomores this year and both had seniors who weren’t the top dog on their team. Similarly to Wayne, coming back this year is a trio of scorers at the top. Senior Sydney Neal led the team last year scoring 9.6 points a game on 40.8 percent shooting from the floor. The Jaeger duo of Madelyn, a sophomore, and Michaela, a senior are also back and ready to make their mark. Both of the Jaeger’s averaged more than eight points a game last season and are looking to increase that total this season. In order to have a winning season this year there are a group of players that need to step up. Seniors Jenna Merical and Aliyah Dickson as well as sophomore Cathy Marlow and junior Presley Pivonka will need to shoulder more of a scoring load this season. Those four don’t need to score 10 points a game but they will need to be able to consistently chip in a few points this season. This group lost eight games by single digits last year. In order to win ten games this season they are going to simply just have to score it a little more. This is going to be a good year for West Central Valley and I think they make a run.
Western Christian (10-12 last season)
Western Christian had a fairly solid season last year winning 10 games and scoring 49 points a game. What hurt them the most was the lack of ability to make 3-pointers as they only averaged just under four makes a game while shooting less than 25 percent from the arc. This is going to be one of the more experienced teams in the state as they have eight retuning seniors. Five of the 12 losses last season were by single digits and they are looking to trim that number down this season. Their leading scorer from a year ago returns as Olivia Granstra brings back her 13.6 points a game average. Seniors Abby and Ally Postma also return after combining for 11.6 points a game last year. Macy Vant Hul, Makenna Kooima, and Cassie VanOtterloo are also seniors coming back and will provide additional scoring as the secondary options. A lot of players were able to gain experience last season as 10 players saw time in 20 or more varsity games. As we get into the season we will be able to see exactly what this group is made of and how solid the leadership foundation is. If last year is any indication, Western Christian has a change to win 15 games this year.
Woodward-Granger (11-12 last season)
Woodward-Granger has a lot of very solid pieces but they struggled at the most important thing last season: scoring the ball. They shot less than 29.8 percent from the floor and they only shot 19.9 percent from behind the arc. With that being said they were able to win 11 games last year and had a relatively successful season. This year I think will be different, and in a good way. They return sophomore leading scorer Emma Anderson who was able to pour in 12.7 points a game. They also return a trio of seniors as Katelyn Scharlau, Natalie Helbling, and Mae Anderson all return after playing big minutes. There are some underclassmen, as well as incoming freshmen, who will contribute heavily to this squad. I think that Woodward-Granger has the ability to win 15-17 games because they’ll simply score more this season. They had numerous close losses last year and this season they should be able to pull those out. It’s going to be a very exciting season for them and one that might really prove some people wrong. The strength of their team last year was defense and it is only going to get better this year.