The Aplington-Parkersburg girls basketball team is working to build its lineup during preseason practices. Having graduated three starters from last year’s team, Head Coach Brady Driscol anticipates a big leap forward by returning starters Eva Walker and Kolbie Wangsness, along with rotation player Ava Eddy.
“Last year we needed Eva to step up and be more of a scorer for us, and she did just that,” Driscol says. “It’ll be kind of the same thing again this year. I think she’s right around 10 points a game, so she’ll be more aggressive this year, have the ball in her hands a bit more. Obviously with that comes more opportunities, and she passed the ball really well last year too. We just don’t want her passing up on some open shots this year. Kolbie I think will do a lot of the same stuff that she did last year, whether she plays inside, outside, rebounding for us. She’s going to have to be really good for us on the boards. We’re losing Peyton Klooster, so that’s some more length for us. Ava too, I think her production is going to go up. I think she was about seven points last year, so obviously we know she can shoot it, but taking that next jump of driving, getting to the lane, getting fouled. Looking for a big jump from those three.”
Three of last year’s top five scorers are back, including Wangsness with a team-high 12.1 points and seven rebounds per game. Walker scored 8.8 per game and Eddy was at 7.6.
After coming off the bench last year, Driscol expects junior Kiara Morris and senior Megan Bruns to expand their roles.
“Last year with Kolbie and Peyton being our two leading scorers and both being our down low post players kind of halted Kiara’s playing time a little bit. But she was ready for the moment, and she’ll be ready for this year. And same with Megan too, when in front of you is two kids that are your two leading scorers and rebounders, it’s just kind of clogged up down there in terms of playing time. So they’re ready for it. And we’re excited to see what they can bring to the table this year. And I know they’re both excited. We’ll see what the season starts like, and I expect big things out of both of them this year.”
They’ll begin the season on Monday, November 24 at Hampton-Dumont-CAL, which’ll air on 99 The Wave and RadioOnTheGo’s YouTube channel.
