The North Butler girls basketball team concluded the first quarter of their season at 1-5 overall, and on a five-game slide since their season-opening win over Northwood-Kensett on December 3.
Head Coach Jordan Nolz on the team’s positive attitude and work ethic working through a challenging start.
“Having two kids really with varsity experience, we knew it would take some time for them to develop. We wanna win games, we wanna compete, but we’re happy to see how these kids have responded to losses, how their attitudes have been and their work ethic, and that stuff hasn’t changed,” says Nolz. “They’ve had great work ethic, great attitudes at practice, they’re working well together, and we’re really seeing improvements. We’re really looking forward as Christmas break approaches, that will be a fun experience.”
In the final two games before break, the Bearcats battled Janesville into a 10-point game on Thursday, December 19 and stuck with Nashua-Plainfield in a game decided by eight points on Saturday, December 21.
Nolz on the self-accoutability of the players which has led to balanced production.
“Everyone’s got a different identity and a different role on our team. Everyone’s stepping up to be self-accountable and that’s what we’re starting to see. Zoey’s done a good job, Kamri’s done a good job leading the defense, Eden’s starting to get some confidence, JD’s working off-ball better this year and getting her shots up. I think they just work together pretty well and I think that’ll be seen as we get further into games.”
Zoey Thompson is averaging 10.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, Jady Thorne is averaging 8.3 points and shooting 45.2 percent from three and Eden Wix adds 6.6 points and nine rebounds per game, to help lead the Bearcats.
Nolz on an area the Bearcats will look to take the next step in during the remainder of the season.
“Confidence and aggression on our press. We’ve started to finally be able to implement our press, getting past all of our fundamental work and establishing our base offense and defense. We saw it in the second half against Janesville that we can press, we have athleticism and intelligence, but it’s the confidence and reacting right away that we really need to focus on. That’s gonna come with reps, reps and reps. It’s also on us as coaches to be able to find drills that we can help get these girls ready for that press.”
North Butler will return to action Monday, January 6 in a non-conference matchup at Hampton-Dumont-CAL.
