The last county girls squad left standing a year ago was Rushford-Peterson. For a fifth straight year, Terry Pelzl’s Trojans made the 1A East title game. For the second time in those years, they won it. R-P won 13 of their last 15, falling to eventual dominant state Class A Champion Goodhue. They finished 9-8 (TRC), 20-10 (overall), as Section 1A runner-up. R-P graduated a couple key seniors. A would-be returning All-Conference player is not out. It’s not Brianna Koop. The Trojans will again turn to their three-time All-TRC performer for scoring. Koop’s over 1,500 career points. The R-P girl’s all-time mark and the 2,000-point mark are reachable. The 5’8” senior forward averaged 18.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.9 steals per game last season. She is the TRC’s top returning scorer. The Trojans also return key seniors, All-TRC HM selections, third-year starters Savannah Skalet (5’5” G > 8.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.1 SPG) and Mikayla Crawford (5’4” G > 7.4 PPG, 3.7 APG, 3.0 SPG). Allison Oian (5’5” G) is the other returning Trojan to play 20-plus games last year. R-P has six seniors and sophomores, two juniors out.
One team that will vie with R-P for the 1A East title are the Kingsland Knights. Jake Vetter’s group fell on a buzzer-beater to the Trojans in last year’s 1A East finals. The Knights finished at 8-10 (TRC), 16-13 (overall), as sub-section runner-up. The team Vetter coached in March is the same he’ll coach this year. Kingsland lost nothing. They are about as balanced as possible. Seniors Kailey Link (5’7” F > 9.6 PPG, 4.2 RPG), Courtney Schmidt (5’6” G > 8.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.8 APG, 2.2 SPG), Gracie Schmidt (6’0” C > 8.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG), Kellyn Webster (5’6” F/G > 7.3 PPG), and Alayna Meskill (5’4” G > 2.4 PPG, 3.0 APG) are third-year mainstays. C-Schmidt was All-TRC last year. Sophomore Lauren Buchholtz (5’7” F/G > 7.2 PGG, 3.3 RPG) is the most athletic of the bunch. Link, Webster, G-Schmidt, and Buchholtz were All-TRC HM a season ago. Seniors Courtney Fate (5’11” F) and Ericka Kolden (5’10” F/C) provide front-court depth. Kingsland has seven seniors, four juniors, and a sophomore on varsity.
A third 1A East contender are the Fillmore Central Falcons. They’ll start the year with a new coach. Levi Olstad takes over for long-time head Sarah Tollefsrud. Olstad’s dad Heath was FC’s boys basketball coach a few years back. The Falcons return all five starters from last year’s 5-12 (TRC), 13-15 (overall) team that fell to Kingsland in a 1A East semi. Seniors Kendyl Bennett (5’11” C) and Kenzie Broadwater (5’6” G) head the cast. Bennett is FC’s leading returning scorer (10.3) and rebounder (7.9), a strong interior force who was All-TRC in 2016. Broadwater, entering her fifth season as starting point guard, is a stat-stuffing blur (7.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.1 APG, 4.1 SPG). Also back are the squads other two senior starters, Tayah Barnes (5’6” G > 7.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 2.5 SPG, 2.1 APG) and Paige Bennett (5’10” F > 5.6 PPG, 3.0 RPG). Broadwater, Barnes, and P-Bennett were each All-TRC HM last season. Juniors Anna Jorgenson (5’9” F/C > 3.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG) and Grace Miller (5’5” G > 3.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG) are full-time returnees. Alleigh Meyer (5’7” junior F/G), and Paige Donlinger (5’2” sophomore G) saw action late last year. On top of their four seniors, FC has six juniors, two sophomores, and two freshman on varsity.
The Chatfield Gophers started last season 1 and 7. They rebounded to 9-9 (TRC), 13-12 (overall) finishes. Brian Baum’s club fell to eventual Class AA state champion PEM in the 1AA East semis. The Gophers graduated their top three scorers including All-TRC next level signees Sydney Gould (Belmont Abbey) and Megan LaPlante (Luther College). Seniors Mariah Bell (5’8 F > 6.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG) and Kyra Dokken (5’6” G > 2.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG) are the two returning starters. Nicki Peterson (5’8” senior G) and Makara Fahrenholtz (5’11” senior F) played in most games last season. Macy Pederson (5’4” junior G > 3.3 PPG) saw minutes late in the year. The Gophers have a six senior, eight junior varsity. It’ll be a bit of a fresh start for the Lady Gophers.
In Mabel, Adam Wilder returns a familiar group. Mabel-Canton went 10-8 (SEC), 12-15 (overall) in 2015-2016. They lost to Spring Grove in a 1A East play-in game. The Cougars have four starters back. Fifth-year standout, two-time 1st Team All-SEC pick Coranda Vickerman heads the cast. The 5’9” senior guard led M-C in everything last season (16 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 3.8 APG, 2.4 SPG). Already over 1,000 career points, she’ll hunt for the Cougar girls all-time scoring mark. Also back are Courtney Graves (5’9” senior F/C > 9.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG), Payton Danielson (5’3” freshman G > 8.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.3 SPG), and Lexi Thorson (5’6” sophomore G > 4.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG). Danielson was All-SEC HM. M-C has two seniors, juniors and sophomores each, one freshman, and three eighth graders on varsity.
The Houston Hurricanes start the year with a new coach. Dale Moga takes over for Lisa Myran-Schutte. Moga was an assistant last season, has assisted RPH track and field for a number of years, and headed Houston football for a spell. He inherits a group that graduated a trio of starters including multi-time All-SEC selection, Hurricane girl’s all-time leading scorer Kelly Jerviss. The ‘Canes went 9-9 (SEC) and 10-17 (overall) last season, falling to FC in a 1A East quarter. They return varsity veterans in seniors Annette Dulek (5’6” G > 3.3 PPG) and Morgan Beckman (5’6” F), juniors Amber Chapel (5’10” C), Becca Lee (5’6” G), Jessica Kitching (5’8” F), and Sarah Albrecht (5’10” F). Their top returning scorer (8.6 per) and rebounder (5.4 per) is third-year player, sophomore Alyssa Rostad (5’5” F), an All-SEC HM pick. The Hurricane varsity is two seniors, five juniors, one sophomore, three freshmen, and six 8th graders.
Lanesboro enters its second year under Head Coach Dave Rogers. The Burros will look to improve upon last year’s 4-14 (SEC) and 4-18 (overall) showing. They fell to Schaeffer Academy in overtime in a 1A East pigtail game. Upward movement should be possible as they return nearly everybody. Heading the list is senior fourth-year players/starters Haley Polin (5’9” G/F) and Cassidy Ruud (5’8” G). Polin led the Burros in scoring a year ago (10.0 per) and was selected All-SEC HM. Ruud ran the point and was the squad’s second leading scorer (8.5 per). They’re joined by experienced classmates Alyssa Gathje (5’11” C > 3.6 PPG) and Leah Ruen (5’7” > 4.4 PPG). Junior Josie Semmen (5’7” G), sophomores Emily Snyder (5’7” G) and Lexie Johnson (5’8” G) were also full-timers a year ago. The Burros varsity is four seniors, five juniors, and two sophomores.
*TRC stats courtesy of Bill Bentson.
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