Winter Sports 2019

WINTER SPORTS

D3

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2019

THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

With blend of youth and experience, Irish will lean on defense, balanced scoring attac

anced this winter. “I think we’ve got a group of guys that collec- tively have a good skill set and the ability to score,” said O’Malley, who is in his ninth season with the Irish. “We’ve got some good athleticism (on the team) and for the large part, our success we have will come down to our ability to play defense.” The man-to-man de- fense that the Irish em- ploys has been a key of the program under O’Malley and will be a focus again this season. “We have a couple of guys we lost from last year that we’re really good defenders — just ag- gressive and active — and we will need to replace that,” O’Malley said. Some of that reinforce- ment could come from ju- niors Corby Condon and Trayton White, a 5-foot-11 guard and 6-foot-3 for- ward, respectively, and Jack Heiss, a 6-foot sopho- more guard. All three are expected to have bigger roles with the Irish this season. Condon and Heiss con- tribute to the St. Pat’s depth in the backcourt, which is one of the team’s

strengths this year. “I think that is proba bly fair to say,” O’Malley said of his backcourt. “W also feel we have some guys who can come off th bench and contribute and have the ability to pla key roles in some spots. “It’s just hard to know how quickly you’re team is going to take shape, O’Malley said. “You just have to start in and play as well as you can right now and continue to work on weaknesses You just try to just mak steady gains and improv (during the season).” O’Malley said Chas County and Bridgepor both return the most ex perience from last year and with that should b considered a favorite i the South Platte River As sociation this season. He added after that, it coul be wide open in the stand ings. “The rest of us don’ have as many players re turning, but everybody has guys they feel can play,” O’Malley said. “It will just be a matter over the next six weeks or s before it is conference tournament time.”

By TIM JOHNSON tim.johnson@nptelegraph.com Charles Aufdenkamp enters the season as not only one of the top return- ing scorers for the St. Pat’s boys basketball team, but also the most experienced varsity player on the Irish roster. The 5-foot-11 senior for- ward, who averaged 8.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last year, has earned three letters during his prep career and is a veteran voice for a program which brings back three starters from a 10-15 campaign. “He has just been a re- ally good contributor for us the last three years,” Irish head coach William O’Malley said. “He is just really active around the basket and a physical player for us.” Senior guard Dolan Branch and 6-foot-3 junior forward Alex Davies aver- aged 10.4 and 3.1 ppg last year, respectively. Branch and Davies, who aver- aged 5.1 and 4.3 rebounds per game round out the Irish returning starters and are part of a St. Pat’s offense which O’Malley feels will be pretty bal-

Derek Noehren / The North Platte Telegraph Jack Heiss (2) of St. Pat’s goes up for a layup against Sutherland’s Tayton Schuster (3) and Noah Holm on Dec. 7 at McGahan Activities Center in North Platte. Lady Irish still have lofty goals despite key departure

situations as much as maybe a starter would be in.” Sellers is one of four se- niors on the Irish roster — joined by Kinsey Skillstad, Graci Castillo and Julie Slat- tery. St. Pat’s does not have a ju- nior on the team, but is bol- stered by sophomores Kate Stienike, Jenna Kimberling and Jayla Fleck, along with freshmen Kinley Folchert, Tonja Heirigs and Mae Siegel. Heirigs, a starter at guard, averaged a team-high 16 points a game as the Irish won two of three games to open the season. “Like any group that hasn’t played much together before in game situations, you al- ways wonder as a coach how they are going to gel,” Stie- nike said. “So far they have gelled great and that starts with our senior leaders. They don’t put any pressure on our younger kids, they just let them play. “(The team) has exceed- ed my expectations so far,” Stienike said. “With so many new faces I was expecting a few more bumps along the way this early. The girls have handled everything that has been put in front of them.” Stienike feels Chase Coun- ty and Bridgeport could be the favorites in the South Platte River Association but added his team should be in the mix as well. “We don’t worry too much about it until mid-January when we’re starting to think about the conference tourna- ment,” Stienike said. “Hope- fully by then we’ll be playing even better ball than we are right now and make another trip to the conference finals.”

By TIM JOHNSON tim.johnson@nptelegraph.com The lineup has changed significantly for the St. Pat’s girls basketball team this season, but the goals remain the same. The Irish graduated four starters from last year’s squad and the one that re- turned — 6-foot senior post Jocylin Sellers — is out un- til roughly Christmas with a bone contusion on her knee. “Even though we’ve got all these new faces, we’re going to keep doing what we do,” said Irish coach Nathan Stie- nike, who is in his 17th sea- son with the program. “We are going stress our pressure defense and rebounding. We’re still going to run the floor, shoot a lot of (3-point- ers) and try to play a fun style of basketball. “It would be nice to get healthy and get (Sellers) back on the court and then just continue to work on the little things,” Stienike said. “I think this team has so much room for growth. We just need to continue to work hard in practice each day and every time we step on the court.” Led by defense that em- ploys a full-court press and also a 1-3-1 system, that Irish style of basketball has result- ed in a trip to the state tour- nament in six out of the past seven seasons. “We still have those same expectations we’ve had in the past. Our goal is to qualify for the state tournament,” Stie- nike said. “A lot of these girls played in games last year so they have that experience at the varsity level. It just might not have been in the crucial

Tim Johnson / The North Platte Telegraph Kate Stienike of St. Pat’s dribbles the ball up court against Maxwell on Thursday at McGahan Activitie Center in North Platte.

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