Junior High Girls Have an Undefeated Regular Season!

The Jr. High girls basketball team has been a force to be reckoned with this season. The A team finished the season 12-1, 9-0 in conference play, with the only non-conference loss coming from one tough set of 8th grade girls from Great Falls. The Lady Badgers outscored their opponents 386-169.

The Lady Badgers started the tournament off with a 1 seed and would take on the 8 seeded Vaughn wildcats in an early week Tuesday evening game. The Badgers won in a landslide 52-0. The Lady Badgers would move on to Saturday and start the final four tournament by knocking off 4th ranked Sunburst in a fairly one sided game to start the day with a score of 28-9. The Lady Badgers took on the Simms Tigers in the Chipper Saturday night with the final score coming in at 42-21. The Badgers outscored the Tigers 28-9 in the first half.

A tough set of 8th grade girls led the team all season, with power forward Allie Park leading the way as the team's season high scorer, with just over 10 per game, lead the team in offensive rebounds and was a do all defender. Allie was a force to have on the court, she is the one I can count on to shut down any strong offensive player, guard or post, size doesn't matter to Allie. Followed closely by the ambidextrous Addisen Johnson, her ability to switch hands with the ball is incredible. She shoots as good with her left as she does with her right hand, as well as having the speed and size to be a force on defense. Addisen will be missed, I could put her anywhere on the court, from point guard to post, and she could play it. She is a very versatile player on offense as well as an excellent defender and that is very valuable throughout the season. Finishing out the 8th graders, is Elisabeth Brown, Bridger Golie, Kendyll Kakalecik, Lyla McWilliams, and Madison Bauch. These girls came off the bench and provided the team with a lot of depth. We used Elisabeth as the relief for the starting post. She did an excellent job for the team. She was very capable of getting all the rebounds under the basket, offense or defense. Bridger, Kendyll and Madison all put in time on the A team and B team and had a very good season. Both Bridger and Madison being posts, they had a lot of ability to own the paint when playing together and were tough to get a shot over on defense. Kendyll and Lyla could fill in either of the post spots and got better every game they played in.

These 8th graders will be greatly missed. This set of girls is as strong of a set of 8th graders as we've had, and I wish them the best with the varsity program in the years to come.

The 8th grade class was followed up with a set of 7th graders that was 7 strong. The 7th grade class was led by Emma Edmundson, Kinzley Lord, and Kylee Cordeiro. All three starters for the Lady Badgers, Emma at point, Kinzley at post, and Kylee at a wing. Kinzley was the team's 2nd highest scorer for the season with just over 6 pts per game. She was the team's leading defensive rebounder and had excellent defense inside the paint. Kylee Cordeiro has cat-like reflexes and is such a gamer. She sees the floor as good as anyone and plays tough on defense. She is an excellent passer, as well as rebounder. She is so fun to coach and will be a force in the future. Emma Edmundson handles the ball better than any Jr. High player I've had. She is as confident as they come and is very court-aware on offense and on defense. She averaged 5 points per game, 3 assists, and 4.5 steals per game. She too was very versatile on offense, and a very strong defender. Following up these three were Reece Hastings, Lindie Cummings, Kendra Cordeiro, and Vivian Byrnes. Reece was always our 6th man; she knew what to do in the guard and wing positions and always had a plan. She had a wicked pass off the top when running point and could make most of her inside shots. Reece will be great to coach in the future. Lindie, Vivian, and Kendra all split time in both the A and B games but provided a lot of depth when tournament time approached. Lindie was able to play either a one or 2 guard position and could help whenever called upon. Kendra Cordeiro was very versatile when talking about where she played. She stood out at a forward position due to her shear mental toughness and great defense, but could play a 2 guard as well. Vivian Byrnes is another quick as a cat player. She knew how to work hard on defense and could play a one or 2 guard position on offense. I look forward to this group of girls in the future. Having 7 girls in one class in one sport at the same time is rare in Cascade, but this group of 7th graders has a very bright future ahead of them.

Finishing out our squad, was the 6th grade class. Alivia Pettit, Josie Ryster, Tessa Barrera, and Quincie Culp gave us another level of depth coming up from the youngest class of the group which is needed week in and week out. Playing mostly B team, the 6th grade girls improved so much beginning to end. This class is fairly new to the game of basketball but did great when called upon. We look forward to having this class back in the spring season to continue improving the fundamentals that we have started.

This was a great season for the Lady Badgers, but I couldn't have done this without the help of my awesome assistants and a great couple of young upcoming lady badger basketball star managers. Levi Jacobs and Angie Hastings helped me have this unicorn season. Levi brought me a lot of good fundamental drills, both on defense and offense, as well as some great ideas for offensive plays. He is great to have on the bench, and always lets me know when I'm missing something. Angie Hastings was my volunteer assistant, and what a treat she is to have on my bench. Always thinking and planning, keeping me aware of the next step, and shutting us up on the bench when we were too hard on the refs. Allie Edmundson and Emma Jacobs were our two managers. These two future ballers were at almost every practice, either morning or evening. They were working on their skills, and if they weren't, they were helping Angie with paperwork, water bottles, stats, or picking up after the team. So much thanks is needed for my coaches and my managers. I couldn't have done this without you all. You are all amazing people and I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to work with you.

The future of the Lady Badgers Basketball is so exciting! This group is truly as talented as they come. I am very fortunate to be able to coach this group and am very thankful to all of the parents who have supported us throughout the season. Thanks to Jason and Lawni Raether for all the coordination and communication. Special thanks to my wife, Liz, for your continued support and advice. Thanks to the school administration and thanks for the support from this community.