The Iowa Falls-Alden girls basketball team has concluded its season, having been defeated in a regional semifinal by #11 (3A) Hampton-Dumont-CAL.
The Cadets went 10-13 and 3-9 in the North Central Conference to finish in the bottom half of the league standings. Head Coach Michael Collison on the factors that prevented more wins from happening.
“It starts with us being able to handle pressure and take care of the ball,” Collison says. “We struggled with that this year at times. And that’s something that will probably get tougher next year. When you think about losing those kids with experience, it’s kids who’ve seen that for four years, and I think that’s a big part. And I always felt like when we rebounded well, we had a good chance to win against those good teams. And if we didn’t rebound well, it was going to be tough for us, and we got better at that, but like, again, you’re going to be losing your top two rebounders from this year’s team. We’re going to have to find some girls who are willing to do that. And I think for us, it’s about recognizing that those teams are losing some players too. And what are we going to do from now until next year to try to close the gap on those teams? And I’m excited about the group we have coming back and their ability to do that.”
The team committed 18.8 turnovers per game.
Seniors Addison Dennis and Cidni Phipps were the rebounding leaders. However, the Cadets are projected to return points per game leaders Elody England and Joslin Johnson. Four seniors will graduate, and five varsity contributors are expected back next year.
