By Becky Walz,
There are positive feelings coming from the Decorah girls’ basketball team.
With five returning letter winners, there are lots of reasons to be ready for the season to start.
Leading the way is Shannon Quandahl, who has been with the program for six seasons. She is assisted by Tyler Wedemeier, Brigit Storhoff and Marcy Klein.
Average season
The Vikings of 2020-21 struggled to put together a run of victories later in the seven. They had four returning letter winners and four senior leaders in Emma Nierengarten, Abigail Milburn, Fiona Buresh and Abby Moen.
The season started with a trio of victories. Decorah picked up several more wins before Christmas break and ended the season third in the Northeast Iowa Conference with an 8-4 record and was 12-9 overall.
The regional tournament started with a 50-26 win over Western Dubuque. Decorah concluded the season the NEIC champion Waverly-Shell Rock in a 52-29 loss.
For the season, Decorah averaged 51.3 points per game. The Vikings shot 42.2 percent from the field and averaged 28.1 rebounds a night. As a team, the collected 209 assists, 232 steals and 49 blocks.
Graduated
Decorah lost four players to graduation. Leading the pack was starter Emma Nierengarten. In her 21 games, she averaged 8.9 points and 7.5 rebounds a night. She had a team-high 21 blocks, along with 33 steals and 28 assists. She was named second team all-NEIC last year.
Also lost is Abigail Milburn who added 6.3 points a night and 4.0 boards. She chipped in 39 steals, 37 assists and seven blocks.
Fiona Buresh and Abby Moen also contributed to the squad last year.
Big names back
Quandahl has five players she can look to this season. Leading the way is junior guard Bryar Duwe. As a sophomore, Duwe led the squad with 15.5 points a night in 21 games. She also had 3.4 rebounds a night and led the team in steals with 54 and assists with 46.
Junior forward Haley Gossman was fourth on the team in points last year with 7.0 per game. She was second in rebounds with 5.3 a night and blocks with eight total.
Junior guard Kylie O’Hara was also a big contributor with 4.9 points and 3.4 boards a game. At the end of her sophomore campaign, she had 31 steals, 25 assists and six blocks.
As a junior, Annika Franzen averaged 1.9 points a night, while adding 32 total rebounds, 11 steals, 11 assists and two blocks.
Sami Mount returns for her junior season after contributing 37 points, 33 rebounds, 19 assists and 12 steals last season.
Yazmeen Whitsitt made a splash as a freshman early last season before getting sidelined with an injury. After eight games, Whitsitt was averaging 12.1 points a game to go with 22 rebounds, 15 steals, 11 assists and three blocks.
“We have a strong and experienced group of young ladies who are eager to compete. They take pride in being a part of something bigger than themselves and are determined to prove they are a force to be reckoned with,” said Coach Quandahl.
The coach is excited to see what sophomores Brynn Storhoff and Madelyn Fromm can do as well.
“Although we are experiencing an uptick of numbers throughout the program, depth and experience competing at a consistently high level in our conference will be our focus at the varsity level,” noted Coach Quandahl. “Overall, the girls’ program will be challenged and held to a standard of greatness to contend in a very competitive conference.”
In the NEIC
When it comes to league play this winter, Coach Quandahl believes the conference title could be claimed by Waverly-Shell Rock again. However, she believes it’s realistic for the Vikings to be in contention for the NEIC crown.
Overall, she’s ready to get out on the court and see the determination to succeed pay off.
“We have a group of young ladies who are determined, eager and hungry to leave a lasting legacy for other young basketball players to follow,” said Coach Quandahl. “I have five returning letter winners who played a lot of minutes last year and have proven their level of resilience and perseverance. Overall, I’m pleased with the girls’ energy and effort thus far, and most importantly, their willingness to play for one another.”
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