Last Saturday the Cody Basketball teams took part in an intra-squad scrimmage as one final tune-up before the start of the regular season. The Fillies show depth at every position and the progression from year one to year two is evident. I caught up with a few member s of the Filly basketball team and they give their thoughts on the upcoming season.
Kennedi Niemann just might be one of the fastest girls you’ll see on the hardwood this year and talks about the improvement from year one to now.
“I think just way more confident than last year. My teammates definitely helped with that, last year for sure, helping me out but I think this year with everybody being more confident and experienced, we have a lot of girls who played last year which is super helpful. So I think it’s going to be good.”
Reece Niemann, Kennedi’s twin sister will be relied heavily upon for this team as she is a fantastic two-way player that can both handle the rock and post up anyone down low. Reece says their team speed will be a big benefit this year.
“This year we’re looking more into pushing the ball up the floor. We have a lot of new fast kids with Molly coming up, Ally returning, Izzy returning. We have everybody, just a lot of speed that I think we can use and look to push the ball back up the floor. We have a lot of fast kids out there. Getting the ball up the floor as fast as we can I think is going to be huge this year.”
Ally Boysen really emerged as a threat down low for the Fillies a year ago at the District tournament and talks about how big of a threat this years post players can be.
“I think it’s going to be really good, just with the offenses we’re running and the posts that we can put in there. I think, like you said, we’re not as tall as some other people may be but I think we make up for that in strength and speed and not only can we post up big but we can also run the floor and be fast on defense.”
And Izzy Radakovich returns to the line-up as another post presence for this years squad. A player that can give you productive minutes at any point in the game. One big advantage to this year team according to Izzy is the group of girls they bring back.
“Obviously Teagan was a huge part of he dynamic last year but we only graduated one senior which, regardless of how good that senior is, it’s nice because we pretty much have the same set. So it’s just been really fun. It just feels like a continuation of last year, especially since cause we didn’t have a spring sport. Like it’s just right back into basketball. So I think that we are going to be really competitive and it’ll just be kind of the same dynamic and hopefully we can just keep building on that.”
Below check out some of the photos from the Fillies Saturday scrimmage:
And now switching over and taking a look at the Cody Broncs basketball team. While the Broncs lost five seniors last year the current group says they’re more than ready to fill in and lead this team. Cody Phillips will be a name to watch this year. Phillips had a break out year on the gridiron and looks to carry that momentum over to the hardwood.
“I think it all needs to carryover. I think my game needs to excel defensively this year in basketball and that’s really what I’m trying to focus on.”
Coy Novakovich was a guy that Cody seemed to mirror last year and he adds what parts he’ll look to add to his game.
“I apply a lot of his game to mine. The open shot three, it’s always there. Coy was always looking for open teammates and what I also want to try to do.”
And Tristan Dollard will be looked upon heavily this season. Tristan is a player with height and length and early in the season getting reps at the varsity level will be huge. Tristan says while their might be a bit of a feeling out process early on, this team has what it takes to succeed.
“I mean, I think compared to last year all of our seniors this year have kind of taken the spots of last years players. We have point guard through post. Everyone filled in a nice spot and we have back ups as well. As well as underclassmen kind of stepping up to help out. So I think this year’s going to be really good for us.”
The Cody Basketball teams officially get their season underway this weekend as they’ll be taking part in the Gillette Tournament. On Friday both teams will open up the season against St. Thomas More out of South Dakota. On Saturday they play Scottsbluff Nebraska. Both days the girls tip-off at 12 noon with the boys to follow at 1:30pm. You can hear all those games live on KODI. Stay tuned later this week to hear from both teams head coaches.
Below check out some of the photos from the Broncs scrimmage:
