Bainville’s Girls Enter Season With Solid Group Of Players

Bainville’s girls’ basketball squad returns a good amount of playing experience and looks to move up in the District 2C standings this campaign.

“I have a solid core of athletes who have 100 percent buy-in to the program,” Bainville Coach Brandy Hanson said. “They play hard until the final buzzer. The girls do a great job adjusting to defensive changes.” Players back with a good amount of court time include senior Kaitlyn Adkins, senior Lakyn Rabbe, sophomore Kendra Romo, sophomore Kaelyn Romo, sophomore Brecklyn Pippenger, freshman Elsie Wilson, freshman Tally Berwick and freshman Miah Pippenger.

“We are finding it a challenge to only have seven players to practice with before Christmas break. It is difficult to have game realistic situations offensively and defensively when we don’t have five to go hard against,” Hanson said. “The girls are working incredibly hard and know that we have to be in great physical shape to compete due to our small numbers.”

Once eighth-graders can start practicing with the high school girls when the junior high season is over, practices should improve for the Bulldogs.

A goal for the Bulldogs is to become a more consistent and better shooting team this season.

“We often have a hard time capitalizing on scoring opportunities and being able to put the number of points on the board needed to win big games despite our defensive efforts,” Hanson said. “We need to be a more balanced scoring team and be able to score with whatever five players are on the floor.”

The coach sees Plentywood and Froid/Lake as being the favorites in the conference.

“It’s no secret that the success Plentywood and Froid/ Lake have had in their volleyball programs are going to put them upon the top for conference favorites. Both teams return an incredible core of athletes that are hard to match up with,” Hanson said. “Circle’s program has continued to be among the top contenders as well and won’t be any different this year with the group of athletes that return for them. Culbertson and Savage should also be competing at the top with the experience and athleticism they have returning as well.”

Bainville aims to earn a spot at the divisional tournament once the post season rolls around.

“The girls know that we need to come out each and every game and play hard. There are so many teams that are ‘bubble’ teams that we will need to compete with in the conference. We will need some big conference wins against those teams during the season to put us in a position to earn a divisional seat,” Hanson said. “I expect my younger players to really grow and contribute by the end of the season. Our seniors provide level-headedness that the younger players need while the younger players bring a raw fire and a spark that can’t be taught. It is a great combination if we can put it all together successfully.”