Young Bainville Girls’ Squad Shoots For Success This Season

Bainville’s junior high girls won the district tournament in Fairview on Saturday, Dec. 19: (back row, left to right) coach Brandy Hansen, Lila Butikofer, Addy Hansen, Tally Berwick, Hailey Berwick,

The future looks bright for Bainville’s girls basketball squad and that hopefully includes success this season.

Brandy Hansen returns as the program’s head coach. She held the position in the early 2000s as well as the 2014-2015 season. She has also coached in the elementary and junior high levels for many years.

The coach is not unfamiliar to most of Bainville’s 11-player roster.

“All except for the three juniors had me as a coach,” Hansen said. “They need to kind of learn my philosophy.”

The squad doesn’t have any seniors. Juniors are Lakyn Rabbe, Kaitlyn Adkins and Micah Anderson. Rabbe was a starter last season.

“We’re very young,” Hansen said. “We’re starting a whole new set of skills for some of them.”

The coach added that sophomore Sadie Ullmer is anticipated to play a key role in the backcourt for the Bulldogs. Freshman Brecklyn Pippenger is also expected to be a solid contributor.

Hansen feels the program is working toward a winning attitude. “We play hard,” she said.

The Bulldogs might play a variety of defenses throughout the campaign.

“We’re going to do some creative things, some creative zone defenses,” Hansen said.

With three eighth-graders

Adkins

included on the young team’s roster, the coach wouldn’t be surprised if the squad experiences a few struggles early in the season.

“I’m OK with that,” Hansen said. “If we’re somewhere near .500 at the middle of the season, it’s a win.”

Although Anderson is 5-9, the Bulldogs don’t have a great deal of size. “We should be fairly quick at the guard position,” Hansen said.

The coach expects Plentywood and Froid/Lake to be among the top teams in a very competitive league.

She hopes the Bulldogs make some noise come tournament time. “Hopefully, we have the bugs worked out by then,” Hansen said.

The Bulldogs will host Plentywood on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Bainville travels to Lustre on Friday, Jan. 8, and hosts MonDak on Saturday, Jan. 9.

Champions

(Photo by Bill Vander Weele)