Lady Trojans team 'an absolute hoot to be around,' says coach
The Western News
Coach: Justin Young
How many seniors are on the roster? We have four seniors: Grace Dolan, Allie Coldwell, Kaitlyn Downey and Aurora Becquart. All of these girls are fine athletes and good basketball players who made major contributions to last year’s district 7B championship team. These girls have been a coach’s dream. Feisty, hard working, competitive and fun. I look forward to coaching them this year and watching what they can do.
Who do you consider to be team-leaders and why? We look to our seniors for guidance. These girls have been through some battles and each one brings different tangibles to the team. Some lead by being local and explaining the cerebral aspects of the game while others lead by example by demonstrating aggressiveness and hustle. As loaded as we are with seniors though, we will have to rely on some underclassmen to provide key minutes. Rounding out our varsity squad will be Annie Day, Katelyn Tallmadge, Montana Rice, and the Ramirez sisters (Emily and Izzy).
Who are your strongest competitors and why? When you’re the second smallest school in your classification every team you face is going to be a challenge. I believe our girls are capable of competing in every game though. In our district both Bigfork and Eureka will be tough. Both teams return a lot of athletic players with varsity experience. Florence and Deer Lodge should be the top teams coming out of district 6B. With no clear frontrunner in the conference, it should make for a very exciting Divisional Tournament this year.
Is the conference a strong one? How does it compare statewide? I’m not sure how the conference stacks up statewide, but I do know there are going to be some battles fought by all the teams in the conference this year. There is not a team that really jumps out. The conference is up for grabs, it will just come down to who gets on a hot streak at the right time.
What excites you most about the coming season? Spending time with these kind, fun goofy girls playing the greatest game on earth. They are a great group of people who are just an absolute hoot to be around. Competitively what excites me is our potential. If we continue to work hard and grind away, then by the end of the season we have the possibility of being a team no one wants to face.
What is your biggest challenge? Like every team our biggest challenge will be to stay healthy and to get everybody on the same page. One challenge is to play at a consistent level night in and night out. In the past we have played at our opponents’ level no matter who the opponent was. This is fine if the team you are playing is better than you, but it is a major hindrance if you are playing a team who you should beat. If we can be consistent in our level of play regardless of the opponent, then I think we have the potential to do some good things.