There will be four senior members of Hills-Beaver Creek High School's girls' basketball team this winter. Left to right are Rachael DeHaan, Jamie Arp, Jamie Brandt and Shanna Tilstra.
By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls are expecting to play a different brand of basketball during the 2000-01 season.
After spending recent years running post-oriented offenses to take advantage of talented centers, Patriot coach Tom Goehle will change gears this year and open things up.
Instead of trying to pound the ball inside to take advantage of their centers in recent years, Goehle is leaning toward an up-tempo style of play.
Although this change of philosophy has led to a bit of confusion, the Patriot coach feels it will be a change for the better - for his team and for H-BC basketball fans alike.
"We're going to be running a motion offense without (designated) posts or wings, so it's hard for me to classify which different positions the girls will be playing. I do think this will make us a team that is a lot of fun to watch play. We'll try to play an up-tempo style of basketball, and we'll try to make other teams work for everything they get against us," Goehle said.
Changing styles was more of a necessity than a choice for Goehle, who knew he would enter the season without a proven scorer in the post.
Graduation last spring claimed center Dana Sells, who led the Patriots in scoring and rebounding last year. The 1999-00 season featured the Patriots placing second in the Tri-County Conference with a 6-2 record and finishing the year with a 13-11 overall mark.
Last year's season featured a 53-34 win over Westbrook-Walnut Grove in the quarterfinal round of the Section 3A Tournament but ended with a 46-36 loss to eventual tournament champion Adrian, a team H-BC beat during the regular season, in the semifinals.
Sells, who was one of seven senior members of last year's team, was H-BC's go-to player on offense. She handled the responsibility well enough to earn a spot on the All-T-CC roster at season's end.
Sells was joined by three classmates who earned starting assignments for the Patriots last season.
Rachel Krull, a three-year starter at point guard, was H-BCÕs second leading scorer last winter.
Krull made the All-T-CC Team, as did classmate Nichole Top, a starting wing who was a key leader for the Patriots.
Darcie DeBoer, a starting forward who played outstanding defense in the low post, also was lost to graduation. She drew honorable mention from the T-CC coaches.
Sells, Krull, Top and DeBoer leave a big hole to be filled on the court for H-BC, and classmates Becky Mulder, Becky Nuffer and Kim DeNoble also will be missed by their former coach.
"Any time you lose that many girls from a personnel standpoint, you have to be concerned. When you lose seven seniors in general, you also lose a certain amount of continuity and a certain amount of leadership. There is inexperience at the varsity level with this year's team, but these girls are quick learners. They are quick to adjust to certain situations, and I donÕt think it will take them long to adjust to playing varsity basketball," Goehle said.
Goehle begins the year with a 10-player roster consisting of four seniors, five juniors and one freshman.
Seven of the roster members lettered for H-BC last year, and two drew starting assignments during the course of the season.
Senior Shanna Tilstra has to be considered H-BC's top returnee.
Tilstra started for H-BC at times during a junior season that had her missing four to six weeks of the regular season due to a stress fracture in her leg. A 5-9 wing, she has played with the varsity team since she was a freshman.
Becky Broesder, a 5-8 junior, also drew some starting assignments for the Patriots last winter.
Broesder is a guard who is second to Tilstra in overall varsity experience.
Senior Rachael DeHaan, juniors Brittney Olson and Jody DeNoble and freshman Erin Boeve picked up some playing time for H-BC last season.
DeHaan is a 5-8 post, DeNoble a 5-8 wing-post, and Olson a 5-7 guard.
Boeve's court time progressed as the season went along last year. A 6-0 wing-post, Boeve is the leading rebounder of the players returning from last year's team.
Senior Jamie Arp earned a varsity letter for the Patriots last winter, but the 5-8 post didn't gain a lot of playing time as a junior.
Jamie Brandt, another senior, is playing basketball for the first time since the eighth grade. The 5-3 Brandt is behind her peers as far as knowing Goehle's terminology, but she brings intensity and quickness to the floor.
Rounding out the roster are juniors Tonya Leenderts and LaDonna Sandstede, who didn't play at the varsity level last season.
Leenderts is a 5-8 wing, while Sandstede is a 5-5 guard.
Goehle said his 2000-01 Patriots have some endearing qualities.
"I've really been pleased with their intensity and work ethic. I think our overall team quickness and overall team intensity will be our strengths, and the fact that these girls play so well together. They pass and move the ball well, and that will be another one of their strengths," he said.
Goehle feels the Patriots also will benefit from what their new assistant coach, Brent Grengs, has to offer.
Grengs was the head boys' basketball coach in Farmington before moving to the H-BC School District with his wife, Kim, (H-BCÕs Elementary School principal) this year.
"Bringing someone with his kind of knowledge and intensity can only help the kids. It surly will make a big difference for our program," Goehle said.
Goehle feels Southwest Christian will be the team to beat in the T-CC, even though the E-Gals lost a number of players to graduation last spring.
Since Fulda returns all of its players from last year, Goehle feels the Raiders have to be considered to be the favorite in what should be a very balanced Section 3A field.
Although the Patriots are short on experience, the Patriot mentor feels his team should be able to offer a challenge to every squad on the schedule.
"Ever since I've been a coach, I've never gone into a game believing we couldn't win it, and that's the type of attitude we'll take into every game this season," he concluded.