By Becky Walz,
The talent is there for the Turkey Valley girls’ basketball team for the 2021-22 season.
It will be a matter of putting it all together in the right combination.
Looking to continue to build on the strong program is Coach Carla Nymeyer, with a career record of 150-45. Joining her on the bench will be assistant coach Steve Hoffert.
Strong squad
The Trojans featured eight returning letter winners, three juniors and two sophomores last season. They were led by their three seniors — Ali Hoffert, Jaycie Byrne and Kylie Wurzer.
Despite the key returners, the Trojans took a few games to gel into a cohesive team. However, from mid-January through the playoffs, Turkey Valley was on a roll, rattling off nine straight wins. Overall, the team finished 13-3 in the Upper Iowa Conference in second place.
Into the postseason the Trojans went. First up was Dunkerton with TV bouncing the Raiders from the tournament, 76-28. Central City put up a better fight in the regional quarterfinal; however, the Trojans prevailed, 53-47. A TV 44-33 win over East Buchanan advanced the Trojans to the regional final to face Saint Ansgar. Playing in New Hampton, Turkey Valley gave it everything they had as the two squads were knotted 19-19 at halftime. A slow third quarter for the Trojans proved to be the difference between the win and the loss.
Turkey Valley put up 53.0 points per game, hitting 37.6 percent from the field. As a team, they pulled down 26.2 rebounds a night. In total, they had 294 assists, 396 steals and 57 blocks.
Last year’s three seniors
Turkey Valley graduated three seniors last year who all contributed big numbers. Leading the way was Ali Hoffert. She averaged 18.7 points per game, along with 8.1 rebounds. In addition, she had 73 steals, 65 assists and 23 blocks. For her efforts, she was named first team all-conference.
Byrne was second in scoring for the Trojans with 10.8 points a game. She also had 2.6 rebounds a game to accompany 122 steals and 74 assists, earning herself a first team all-UIC nod.
Wurzer averaged 1.5 points and 1.4 boards a night, along with 25 assists and 21 steals.
This year’s big five
Three seniors and two juniors will provide the leadership for the youthful team. Leading the charge is UIC-honorable mentions Kara Reicks and Jalyssa Blazek. Reicks, a guard, averaged 6.9 points per game last year to go with 2.3 rebounds. She also had 88 steals and 45 assists. Blazek shot 36.0 percent from the floor, averaging 4.6 points a night. She also had 45 steals, 35 assists and 10 blocks. Hailey Elsbernd also returns for her senior campaign, averaging 1.0 point and 0.8 rebounds a game.
Another guard, Aubrey Hoffert provided 2.6 points and 1.2 rebounds an outing. She also had 17 steals and 13 assists. Jacqlyn Schmitt will once again find her way under the basket. The forward produced 6.7 points and grabbed 5.0 boards a night. She also had 28 assists, 17 steals and 10 blocks.
They will be joined by juniors Brianna Busta, Alison Leibold, Olivia Snyder and Abigail Schmitt.
Sunny outlook
“We return quickness and athleticism, as well as a strong presence at the basket,” noted Coach Nymeyer. “I feel good about our perimeter players and their abilities to shoot the ball as well as keeping our identity of an uptempo team.”
Among the coach’s concerns is rebounding, staying healthy and developing bench depth.
“We obviously have big shoes to fill with the loss of our seniors, but I feel we can do it. We already see girls making the effort to transition into proving they can contribute substantially,” said Coach Nymeyer.
It will be another solid season in the Upper Iowa Conference, with Coach Nymeyer seeing MFL MarMac, North Fayette Valley, Central Elkader and the Trojans, all battling for the league title.
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