The North Butler girls basketball team arrived at the holiday break with a record of 3-5 overall and 2-4 in the Top of Iowa Conference East. A top stat for the Bearcats through their first eight games is 10.8 assists per game (second most in TIC-East). Areas of improvement for the team preparing for their 2026 schedule include scoring output (39 points) and turnovers (17.9) per game. Head Coach Jordan Nolz shares what can help the team progress.
“When we have the confidence to compete, the energy to compete as a team, it’s a great result that we can have. Our girls have a good mindset, what are my strengths to the team and where can I improve to help our team get better. That’s one of the biggest positives,” says Nolz. “Really the biggest focus is when we compete, it’s because we take care of the basketball. Our girls need to understand how to take care of the basketball and continue to work to improve on that. That’s mainly on me.”
Eden Wix, Zoey Thompson and Jady Thorne are the Bearcats top three producers at the break. Wix leads the team with 10.7 points and eight rebounds per game. Thompson is averaging nine points, 7.7 rebounds and has a team leading 3.7 assists per game. Thorne adds eight points and four rebounds per game. Nolz highlights the strengths each one brings to the floor.
“All really doing things differently. Jady’s effective at the three point line. That’s her biggest strength. Eden’s more effective down low. She’s efficient with one or less dribbles. That’s her strength. Zoe’s our person getting us into our sets offensively. She does a bunch of the little things, stealing, rebounds, assists,” says Nolz. “All three of those girls, right off the bat provide us something different. It’s a team effort.”
The Bearcats will begin their 2026 slate by hosting Hampton-Dumont-CAL on Monday, January 5.
