The rebuilding process for the Bushnell-Prairie City High School girls basketball team continues.
The Spartans had just eight players a season ago that included lone senior Abby Nelson, who was a four-year player in the program.
Playing a mix of varsity and JV games, B-PC posted a varsity record of 3-14 under coach Kory Schwarz.
Schwarz resigned prior to the start of the new season to spend more time with his family.
As a result, B-PC athletic director Nate Zaehringer stepped in to take over as head coach.
“We reached out to a few former coaches and players,” said Zaehringer. “They were unable to take on the responsibility, so I stepped in.”
“I wanted to make sure that the girls had a season and they continue to make their progress and continue to build the program up,” he added.
Zaehringer noted that he does have a background in coaching basketball.
When he first arrived at B-PC, he served as a volunteer coach under Matt Colston and Tony Akers.
The following year he stepped in as coach for the B-PC Junior High girls program where he held the post for seven seasons.
The Braves enjoyed plenty of success during that time, finishing second in the 2015 Class 7-2A State Finals.
In the first year post-COVID, Zaehringer served as assistant junior high boys basketball assistant coach.
The numbers are up for the Spartans this season, growing from eight to 13. The roster breakdown inc;udes four juniors, five sophomores and four freshmen.
Of the eight players on last year’s roster, six return this season for the Spartans.
Zaehringer looks for the junior trio of Jersey Jones, Justice Klinedinst and Jules Kreps, known as the “Triple Js” to lead the way.
“We have our three leaders who have been starting pretty much since their freshman year,” said Zaehringer of the trio. “They continue to lead the team.”
“They have that experience and they’ve been leaders ever since,” he added. “We’ll continue to lean on them to be the leaders, be the captains and continue to build the program and bring the other girls along with them.”
Sophomores Lilly Griffitts, Mylee Chenoweth and Kendyl McCleery also return from last year after seeing extensive playing time as freshmen.
Allisa Raines is the other junior on the roster, with underclassmen Paityn Miller, Madison Zaehringer, Scarlett Countryman, Finley Hess, Jocelyn Johnson and Ember Savage rounding out the roster.
“They come in ready to practice,” said Zaehringer. “They want to play hard and they want to win. They want to do what they need to do to get better. They keep working towards that each practice.”
Zaehringer is looking for the players to continue improving as individuals and work more cohesive as a team. That includes executing on offense and defense while continuing to push forward.
The goal is not only playing to get better, but playing to win.
He noted that the younger players can learn a lot from the older players.
“Look at the work they’ve put in over the years and how much it takes to lead a team,” said Zaehringer. “And what it takes to build a program up that has been struggling lately. To just have a positive attitude and keep fighting for everything that you want to achieve.”
“Basketball is a tough sport. It’s tough to learn,” he added. “You’re always on the go. You’ve got to think quickly. You have to be mentally tough and adapt as you go.”
The biggest goal for the program however is to increase the numbers to a point of being able to field a full schedule of JV and varsity games.
“Hopefully next year, we’ll be back to having a full varsity and a full JV schedule and continue to build the program up,” said Zaehringer.
