School District News

Lady Eagles hope to rebound from last season’s struggles

Coming off a 4-22 season (3-13 in conference play), the Lac qui Parle Valley lady Eagles basketball team will return plenty of experience in hopes of rebounding from a frustrating ’23-‘24 season.

Back are letterwinners Jalyn Lee, Kayla Jahn, Zoey Dockter, Brandi Meyer, Jaydah Kessler, Caleigh Conn and Kendyl Shelstad. Lee, Conn, Jahn and Shelstad were all starters from a year ago.

“We return a bunch of seniors and experience from last year,” commented Head Coach Dylan Erickson. “They were all put in situations they weren’t quite ready for last year and that will be a huge improvement in having the girls comfortable in their roles this year. With our added depth and young talent to help boost our team, we will play at a faster tempo.”

Other players looking to make an impact this year are sophomore Brooklyn Olson, freshman Aidyn Bonn and eighth grader Maya Sawatzky.

Meshing together experience and new players is always a welcome challenge for a coach. Erickson echoed this thought, “It will take some time for us to blend the younger girls with the older ones and get them all on the same page working together. Handling the basketball and pressure and making quick decisions will hinder us early while the girls get acclimated with each other.”

As the girls get playing time together, they will have to compete in an ultra-competitive Camden Conference. Erickson looks for KMS, CMCS, Lakeview, MACCRAY and Minneota to all be very good this season, not only in conference play, but also in Section 3A.

“We want to be competitive in every game,” added Erickson. “We have to learn and grow each day and be playing our best basketball at the end of the year when anything can happen.”

Erickson will be assisted by John Shurb, Thomas Daniels and Lindsay Kranz, and for the first time in a long time, the LqPV girls program will have a C-squad due to healthy numbers.

Practice began on Nov. 11 and their first game will be on Friday, Nov. 22 when they travel to Minnewaska. Subscribe or Log In