Glenwood City girls basketball to rebuild around nine returning letter winners and new coach
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GLENWOOD CITY — The Glenwood City girls’ basketball team is on its third head coach in as many seasons, but first-time head coach Kirsten Konder is committed to a rebuilding the Lady Toppers’ hardwood fortunates.
Konder, a Glenwood City graduate, returned to her alma mater this fall to teach agriculture and advise the FFA chapter and was more than thrilled to take reigns of a Glenwood City girls’ basketball program that she grew up in.
“This position has been my dream since I was 17,” said Konder of becoming the Lady Toppers’ head coach.
“Having coaches like Bruce Kelm, Neil Hall and Kraig Zwiefelhofer in basketball showed me a love for the sport and displayed to me the difference a great coach can make in the lives of others,” she added.
Konder, who gained coaching experience as a middle school boys’ basketball coach and junior varsity volleyball coach while teaching in the Luck School District, has also served as a WIAA basketball official. She is looking to bring long-term stability and guidance to a program that won just one game a year ago finishing 1-13 in Dunn-St. Croix play and 1-23 overall following a 42-35 opening-round regional loss at home to Webster.
In fact, the Lady Toppers have not posted a winning mark since the 2015-16 season when it went 21-3 and finished as the conference runner-up.
But, Konder and her charges are looking to begin the process of bringing Glenwood City girls’ basketball back to prominence.
“We are a young team that has a lot of potential,” noted Konder.
Glenwood City lost just one player from a year ago via graduation but it was a big one. Kendall Schutz was the Hilltoppers’ ball-handling guard and its leading score at 6.7 points per game (ppg) until she suffered an ACL injury in the latter portion of the season that ended her prep career.
However, the proverbial cupboard is far from bare as nine of Glenwood City’s 17 rostered players are returning letter winners. Those include seniors Amalia Draxler, Aubree Logghe and Aria DeSmith, the team’s only two juniors Libby Wagner and Michaela Blaser and sophomores Morgan Blaser, Jenna McCarthy, Kylie Ohman, and Izzy Davis.
Post player Izzy Davis, which Konder calls a “young diamond”, had a break-out freshman season a year ago finishing as the squad’s second leading score at 6.5 ppg and its top rebounder with 52 boards.
Wagner, Michaela Blaser and DeSmith will be assets on the offensive and defensive ends of the court. Wagner finished last season with a 3.6 points per game average while Blaser added 3.5 ppg. DeSmith chipped in with 36 rebounds and had a team-leading 19 blocked shots.
Among her freshman players, Konder has been impressed by the tremendous ball-handling skills of Emma Bliese. According to the coach, Bliese is quick, attentive and gives total effort on every play and in every practice which might make her a prime candidate for the varsity’s point guard postion.
Konder sees her team’s cohesiveness and the players basketball knowledge as strengths but also acknowledges the team’s youth as a potential weakness in a very competitive Dunn-St. Croix conference.
Konder has tabbed Elk Mound and Colfax as this year’s championship front runners stating that both have well established programs that play at high speed.
“This year, the only way we can go is up,” commented Konder. “My overall goal is to see the girls getting better and improving skill-wise with every game.”
“One goal for the season is to have outstanding free throw percentages throughout the entire program, both varsity and JV. These are the “easy” points in the game and I plan to see our percentages rise as the season progresses,” Konder continued.
“For non-statistics, I want our team to grow and become family like. If we are able to make a bond throughout the season, the girls will be friends long after they walk the halls of Glenwood City High School, making memories that will last a lifetime. If the girls are enjoying basketball practice and working hard during practice, their performance level in the games will increase as time goes along,” she concluded.
Assisting Konder will be Samantha Schreiber who begins her fourth year.
The Hilltoppers tipped off the 2022-23 season with a home game against Grantsburg last evening (November 15) and will then head out on the road to face Pepin/Alma in Pepin on Thursday and Chetek-Weyerhaeuser next Tuesday, November 22.
2022-23 Roster
Seniors: Amalia Draxler, Aubree Logghe, Brooklyn Caress, and Aria DeSmith.
Juniors: Libby Wagner and Michaela Blaser.
Sophomores: Morgan Blaser, Brooklyn Brite, Jenna McCarthy, Kylie Ohman, and Izzy Davis.
Freshmen: Emma Bliese, Opal Voeltz, Kaylin Brandt, Ava Multhauf, Anaka Eliason, and Lillie McGee.
GLENWOOD CITY GIRLS return nine letter winners for the 2022-23 basketball season. Front row (L to R): Libby Wagner, Brooklyn Caress, Aubree Logghe, Aria DeSmith, Mali Draxler, and Michaela Blaser. Middle row ( L to R): Morgan Blaser, Brooklynn Brite, Opal Voeltz, Anaka Eliason, Emma Bliese, and Ava Multhauf. Back row ( L to R): Kylie Ohman, Kaylin Brandt, Izzy Davis, Jenna McCarthy, and Lillie McGee.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt