Player’s Perspective: Season Recap

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As I bring back this series of articles where I catch up with athletes on how their season went overall for themselves and teammates. Here are the first 4 athletes featured.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["928125"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67f4611caf6f1"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700"><strong>How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-I would say we performed pretty well. We are all very close so the chemistry is good. I'm so lucky to be a part of a team that is a family. I think I played good this season. I try to stay consistent with helping my team win.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-The biggest obstacle was probably the semi-final game at state. It was a close game and we just let it go at the end, but I am glad we had that kind of competition.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What do you think you improved most on the court?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-My mid-range game has really improved. My individual workouts focus on different ways to score which has really helped me be more creative.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What are you looking to improve during AAU and before next season?&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-I'm looking to improve my ball handling and my passing. Really just making sure I can facilitate for my team and take care of the ball.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-I think [player_tooltip player_id='659454' first='Brooklyn' last='Coe'] played her role well, just being a great shooter and making shots for us throughout the game and down the stretch. [player_tooltip player_id='580528' first='Jacey' last='Boesel'] did great as well, playing good defense, getting rebounds and scoring for us. [player_tooltip player_id='663650' first='Emma' last='Bryant'] plays great defense, makes good reads on offense, and brings the energy for our team. [player_tooltip player_id='999615' first='Berlyn' last='Zimmerer'] also made all league for us because of her good defense, she also hit big shots for us down the stretch.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">One teammate I think could have a breakout year next year is Kacey Haney. She will have a key role for us next year and she will help due to her size. Our team isn't very tall, and her length could help us in a lot of ways. I'm excited to see her growth in the next couple of years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["669120"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67f4611caf759"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700"><strong>How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout the season?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>-</em>I think that our team performed really well in the less competitive games during the first couple months of the season. The other starters and I often played a short number of minutes, but I thought we all left it all out on the court and worked together really well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As the season progressed, we played better teams and started evenly spreading the points across our roster every single game. I think this sets us apart from the teams that placed below us in the state tournament; where they might have two or three scorers, we have five on the floor at all times. Each of my teammates has her own bag of things she's skilled at, which I think sets us apart from those other teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>-</em>The biggest obstacle my team faced this season was definitely sickness and minor injuries which made it hard for us to play at 100% full steam all the time. Personally, I had pneumonia following the flu and was fighting to recover from those, trying to keep on weight and stay in shape all at the same time so that was a huge obstacle I had to face.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What do you think you improved most on the court?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>-</em>I'd say something I improved on this season is confidence in coming off screens and catch and shoot quickness as I had a lot of opportunities to get a lot of reps. My teammates also got better, and I could count on them. I often made an extra pass because I was face guarded most games, my assist stats improved a whole lot, and I was really glad to get everyone included in our offense. The minutes I played were reduced in a lot of lopsided games, so I really had to focus on my productivity during my time on the court. That involved me being more efficient on offense in any way I could, which a lot of times was making extra passes or kicking it up.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What are you looking to improve during AAU and before next season?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>-</em>I'm looking to improve my finishing ability through contact and physically growing through reps in the weight room. I'm currently doing the high jump in track, and increasing my vertical will help with multiple aspects of the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-I feel like my teammate Morgan Lentz has always been underrated. She is always making the extra pass, working her tail off on defense and being in the gap when you get beat. You can always depend on her to put her head down and get to the rim in really tense games and rack up points that really make a difference every single game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I also think that my teammate, Molly Huffman, is one of the nicest people that I've ever played with. She's never had a negative thing to say about anyone in practice, at a game, on the bench, or even outside of basketball and I think she has a lot of potential. She reminds me a lot of Dennis Rodman because she rebounds so well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I see a lot of potential in my teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1281429' first='Taia' last='Gehring'] as well. She and Molly are both freshmen and still have a long road ahead of them, but I think their futures can be super bright. We're still a young team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our point guard, [player_tooltip player_id='928992' first='Ellie' last='Collier'], is only an 8th grader and is taking on a huge role. She did a great job and she is going to be, or maybe even is, the best point guard in 1B basketball for sure, but also the state of Washington.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As stats will prove, this season Kyra Brantner stepped up and scored a lot of points in numerous games. You can count on her to outrun teams and tire them out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are a ton of younger girls on our team that I think will really blossom in the coming seasons who will make appearances at the state tournament very soon, but the one I'm most excited to watch grow as a player is my 14 year old little sister, Lauren Flansburg.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["753739"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67f4611caf7b4"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700"><strong>How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>- I think we clicked right off the bat. A couple of games were rocky at the start but we always pulled it out when we needed to.&nbsp;&nbsp;Every single starter on our team can score if one gets shut down so it's hard to stop us.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-I think my biggest challenge is I'm in a new school, new team, new environment I've never played with these girls or with these coaches before so it was different but the best decision of my life. I think we had some times of uncertainty or maybe annoyance when we had to play the same teams multiple times. We had to play annie wright 4 times which was hard bc they are a great team, but we pulled it out every time.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What do you think you improved most on the court?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-I think I improved my attitude. Once my attitude and drive to play the game for more than myself came, it was all uphill in my performance, coach-ability, confidence, and being the best teammate.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What are you looking to improve during AAU and before next season?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-For AAU I'm just looking forward to playing at a high level competing with some of the best teams out there</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">- I think our entire starting 5 stands out. [player_tooltip player_id='928029' first='Kiana' last='Skogstad'], [player_tooltip player_id='663662' first='Olivia' last='Reynolds'], [player_tooltip player_id='1048798' first='Rocklyn' last='Osborn'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1126660' first='Addi' last='Taylor'] are some of the best people and performers I've ever had the blessing to play with. Sadly we do lose Addi next year but the rest of us 4 and ready to take home two rings 🙏🏼</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":"","_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67f4611caf7f8"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["928161"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67fa861218a7e"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700"><strong>How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-I think we had a really solid season. We finished 6th in the state, which we're proud of. Our team chemistry was strong, and we really grew throughout the year, especially after playing some tough games that pushed us to get better. I'm proud of how far we came and how we stuck together through it all."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-We moved from 3A to 4A and faced some really talented teams.&nbsp;&nbsp;It made us really have to work together as a team and play gritty basketball!&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What do you think you improved most on the court?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-This year I scored from all levels, scored more points than last year and got more aggressive on - on ball defense.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What are you looking to improve during AAU and before next season?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-I want to improve on scoring more on pull up jumpers and talking on backside help.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">-[player_tooltip player_id='928137' first='Avery' last='Hansen'] and [player_tooltip player_id='928163' first='Jayden' last='Lewis'] stood out for me.&nbsp;&nbsp;Avery was super aggressive on offense and defense and Jayden was aggressive on the boards and scoring.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->