ELGIN — With just one senior on the team, Wolfpack girls basketball coach Randy Eisenhauer will need to require underclassmen to shape another winning season.
Upset in the opening round of subdistricts last season, this year’s team will be working to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“We have a good core of girls coming back that have varsity experience,” Eisenhauer said last week. “We will need other girls on the roster to step up and fill some key roles. We look to go out and be competitive in our games this year.”
Opponents know when they play a Wolfpack team coached by Eisenhauer, they have to keep pace with the Wolfpack attack. On offense, EPPJ plays a fast-paced game, capitalizing on opponents turnovers by turning them into easy baskets. On defense, the Wolfpack’s pressure defense rarely finished a game without double-digit steals and turnovers by their opponents.
Epitomizing that style of play is the team’s lone senior – Kayton Zwingman. She’s just one of the players who brings it every night. She, along with juniors Mady Kurpgeweit and Braelyn Martinsen, are the team’s returning starters from last year.
Kurpgeweit and Martinsen were two of the team’s top scorers last season. Kurpgeweit can dominate opponents with her inside game while Martinsen shoots the 3-ball well and her quickness often leads to steals which become layups at the other end of the floor.
Other juniors on the team are Kierstyn Eisenhauer (recovered from a knee injury), Elizabeth Moser and Gemma Miller. Kinley Drueke is the lone sophomore while freshmen Jael Lammers, Lillian Moser, Kinley Miller, Sydney Niewohner, Macy Rokahr and Gentry Zwingman fill out the roster.
Eisenhauer said having both of our leading scorers back from last season with Braelyn and Madelyn, is one of the strengths of this year’s team. “We also have very good leadership with those two and Kayton from the past years,” he said.
To get better, the team will need to improve their rebounding. “This was a weak point last year that we will need to make sure we get better at this year,” the coach said.
“Our goals are making sure we improve each game and each part of the season. We always break our season up into three parts,” Eisenhauer said. “We need to make sure that we see improvement as we go along with the season. We will have a lot of younger kids that will need to put in some big minutes so we will need to make sure we are progressing as the season goes along.”
The Wolfpack will play two of their first three games on the road to start the season and will again play at the Madison Holiday Tournament.
Good luck Wolfpack!
