By Becky Walz,
Taking part in the South Winn girls’ basketball program this season are (front, l-r) Karissa Wenthold, Loleta Ryan, Josie Tieskoetter (manager), Aubrey Willey, Ella Theis; (middle) Allison Hageman, Adele Conway, Lauren Ondrashek, Jayden Timp, Chloe Wiltgen; (back) Kira Ellingson (manager), Adrienne Winings, Clara Kriener, Aubrey Hageman, Charlotte Moonen, Alyssa Holthaus, Jordan Peterson (manager) and Head Coach Justin Izer. (Driftless Multimedia photo by Becky Walz)
Some underclassmen will be asked to step up for the South Winn girls’ basketball team.
The Warriors will be looking for a blend between their returning letter winners, some talented juniors, with sophomores aiming for a spot on varsity.
Putting together the team is Head Coach Justin Izer. Starting his fourth year at the helm, he’s put together a 17-48 career mark. He will be assisted by Mike Gehling.
“We will have a learning experience season. We will be learning every step of the way and look to get better,” said Coach Izer. “We return a few girls from last year that will help lead the way along with a senior transfer who will play a big role inside our program.”
A year in review
For the 2022-23 season, the Warriors featured eight returning letter winners mixed with young talent. However, that blend didn’t always produce wins. The squad went 6-10 in a strong Upper Iowa Conference, finishing fifth.
The postseason started with a strong effort that produced a 57-26 win over Postville in the Class 2A first round. The quarterfinals proved to be a challenge for the Warriors as they faced Aplington-Parkersburg, falling 72-37 to end the year 7-16 overall.
As a team, SW averaged 35 points per game, hitting 28.8 percent from the field. They pulled down 25.8 rebounds a game (211 offensive, 382 defensive, 593 total), to go with 229 steals and 193 assists.
Graduating at the end of the season were Hailey Riehle, Alison Heying, Morgan Kriener, Josie Hemesath, Morgan Kleve and Giselle Flores. Kleve led the team in scoring, averaging 10 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Hemesath had 4.4 points and 3.4 rebounds a game while Kriener contributed 42 assists and 42 points for the season. Heying finished with 35 points, 32 rebounds, 17 assists and 17 steals for the season, while Riehle provided 35 points, 31 rebounds, 14 steals and seven assists.
Back on the court
Coach Izer has five returning letter winners to count on. Leading the way will be senior Aubrey Willey who averaged 2.1 points and 2.9 rebounds a game last season. She also had 23 assists and 18 steals.
Junior Karissa Wenthold averaged 5.3 points a game last season and led the team with 45 steals and 27 assists. During her freshman season, Ella Theis provided 28 points, 42 rebounds (21 offensive, 21 defensive, 13 steals and nine assists. Also back with a letter are Allison Hageman and Alyssa Holthaus.
Rounding out the varsity is senior Loleta Ryan; junior Adrienne Winings; sophmores Adele Conway and Charlotte Moonen; and freshmen Lauren Ondrashek, Jayden Timp, Clara Kriener, Hailey Hageman and Chloe Wiltgen.
An outlook
“Overall, our team speed and athleticism will help us a lot this year as we look to open things up this year,” said Coach Izer. “We will be one of the smallest teams as we are not blessed with a lot of height.”
As far as the conference, he sees Central Elkader, MFL MarMac, North Fayette Valley and Turkey Valley as being the teams to beat.
South Winn opened its season this week with road games against North Butler and Clayton Ridge Monday and Tuesday.
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