The Clarksville girls basketball team continued its climb as a yearly contender in the Iowa Star Conference North, as they went 14-10 overall and 8-4 in the conference to finish third behind Riceville (1st) and Dunkerton (2nd). The Indians season came to a close with a loss to state tournament qualifier Dunkerton in a Class 1A regional quarterfinal.
Head Coach Ross Timmermans on how this year’s team defied the odds and kept fighting.
“They really did a phenomenal job from start to finish. We were outsized, outnumbered all season long. This group just kept fighting, kept battling. We took some of the best teams in our conference and in the area to the wire multiple times,” says Timmermans. “Many memorable wins, so many memorable games. You can’t look at this season in any way, shape or form as one that was a failure because everything about it was successful.”
The Indians took care of business on both ends of the floor among the conference leaders in scoring with 46.3 points per game (tied third), points allowed at 40 (third), steals per game with 15 (third) and assists per game with 10 (third).
Timmermans on the connection of this year’s team on and off the floor.
“It’s the type of team that I’ll talk about with future teams to give them an example of what it looks like to have team chemistry. I learned just as much from them as they learned from me. The girls that are graduating, Jeni Johnson, Claire Lodge, and Emmalee Manwarren, those seniors did a phenomenal job and I hope that they take some of the things that they learned this season with them wherever they go in the following years once they’re done. I hope that the juniors that are now seniors, Paige Kampman and Hannah Wangsness take what they learned from those seniors and put it into the process this offseason and into next season. It was just a very memorable, fun season.”
The Indians graduate three seniors including Emmalee Manwarren, Jeni Johnson and Claire Lodge. The Indians are projected to return all-conference honorees and top two scorers Paige Kampman and Hannah Wangsness next year.
