Add in fellow senior Abby Patel, who will be a three-year varsity contributor herself, and it’s pretty easy to see why Gil- bert enters the season as a top- 10 team in the class and arguably the biggest threat to North Polk’s continued dom- inance in the Raccoon River Conference. “With those four leading us, we feel like we can play with anybody in the state of Iowa and give them a game,” Frisk said. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to beat them all, but we’re going to try. “If you look at Abby Patel, she’s a leader because of how hard she works and she’s one of our top defenders. Mia is very capable of being a defen- sive stopper and offensively we can rely on her. Mollie can be a
double-double kid, and Ella is someone that doesn’t get enough credit for everything she does for us.” Henningsen (13.1 points, 8.5 rebounds per game in 2023-24) was an all-state player a sea- son ago, and she enters her final campaign with a chance to reach 1,000 career points. She had 735 points through three seasons. Kautman (11.4 points, 3.4 re- bounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals per game in 2023-24) could get to 1,000 career points as well; she entered the season with 689. And don’t forget about Schnormeier (11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds per game in 2023- 24); it would take a heater of a season to reach 1,000, but she entered with 591 career points.
The four seniors were the driving forces behind a 6-1 spurt to end last season, which included an upset win over Mason City in a regional semi- final and an overtime victory over Cedar Rapids Xavier to clinch a spot in the state tourna- ment field. The Tigers ran into top-ranked and eventual state champion Clear Creek-Amana in a state quarterfinal, but the 68-30 outcome only served as motivation for this winter. And at the top of Frisk’s wish list — a more focused club at the defensive end of the floor. “Our focus all summer was on guarding better and guarding harder,” he said. “For us to be elite this year, we’ve got to be able to stop somebody. I want 32 minutes of great defense every night.”
That needs to come from ev- erybody, Frisk says. From his four senior leaders, from sopho- more guards Callie Hales and Kayla Rash, and from everyone who will see minutes off the bench. Hales will look to build off her rookie season in which she averaged 5.2 points, 3.6 as- sists, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game. Rash is fully healthy and ready to expand upon the 4.2 points and 2.1 as- sists an outing she put up last winter. Abigail Thompson, Katie Snie- zek, Caylee Kincade, and Ken- nady Hansen will all see time as well to give Frisk the ability to play the up-tempo style he fa- vors. Frisk continually brings up the
WINTER 2024-25 | GAME ON 9
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