Central Girls Basketball Preview: Warriors will need to communicate, come together

By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register

“We are going to work to get better each day. It isn’t about where we start, it’s about where we finish, and we will work to build our skills to be together on the basketball court as one cohesive unit,” said Central girls basketball coach Mark Wiley of this season’s expectations.

It’s a tempered set of expectations for a team that will be the youngest Wiley has coached at Central in the last 18 years. The nucleus of seniors that won every conference game after winter break and led the Warriors to a third place finish in the Upper Iowa Conference graduated, making way for a group of mostly underclassmen, including five freshmen and two sophomores. 

The loss of statistical leaders like Gracie Cummer, Ashlyn Scherf and Grace Kuehl is also a loss of experience and leadership, something Wiley admitted is “difficult to replace,” but that isn’t going to stop the wily veteran from trying. 

“We look to have our sophomores and juniors step up to fulfill leadership roles and the freshmen will be essential in playing roles to support the team’s success,” he said. 

The Warriors will lean on sophomores like Brylee Erickson, who will be relied on to handle the basketball, and Raelynn Coanner, who will provide necessary minutes on defense, likely filling space once occupied by Cummer. Then there are the five freshmen, Lyla Burns, Ella Frieden, Mya Gregerson, Blair Scherf and Payton Stannard, who Wiley believes will provide depth on the varsity team, while also getting experience at the JV level.

The youth is buttressed by a small group of upperclassmen, including returning juniors like Layla Embretson, who is expected to provide a post presence this season with her length and ability to rebound the basketball. Katie Royer brings versatility and can play different positions from guard to post and Oakley Armstrong will force defenses to extend their pressure. She also has the ability to score from beyond the arc. 

The lone senior on the roster is foreign exchange student Maria Fe Villarejo, who will add depth on the court and has the ability to score off the dribble, showing an aggressive approach to the game. 

“This is a nucleus of players with experience at the high school level. We have a very good group of individuals. They are hard working individuals and they have been part of the basketball program over the last couple of years,” Wiley said. 

Still, though, it’s a nucleus that will need to learn to play together as a varsity roster, and while Wiley takes the stance that “winning and losing will take care of themselves,” fundamentals will be key to the Warriors’ success. That’s working together, taking responsibility on and off the court and communication. 

“As a young team, we will need to learn quickly communication is an expectation, not an option. We will work hard each day and try to make teams utilize options other than their strongest players and strengths,” Wiley said. 

Those are the same life lessons he tries to instill on and off the court. When it comes to accountability, Wiley stated that “showing up is the most important thing you can do,” whether it’s in the classroom, at work or at basketball practice. 

“It’s easy to show up when the lights are on and it’s game time. Showing up at practice, putting the time in, giving maximum effort for not just yourself, but each other, is what makes a team better,” he added.

Then there is working together or, in this case, improving yourself and never settling for the “average version of yourself,” as Wiley put it. It’s about not wasting opportunities. Over time, you will see the gains in improvement from the effort you put in. 

Finally, though, and perhaps the most important, is communication, which will create the cohesive team needed to be “on the same page offensively and defensively.” 

“We also need to communicate off the court in a positive way. We need the face-to-face interactions to create meaningful relationships among teammates,” Wiley said. 

Building that cohesive unit requires interactions, aided by an offseason that included a camp with a scrimmage and a trip to the Wartburg College Team Camp, where the Warriors played five games in two days. They also lined up a scrimmage with Independence after the conclusion of the volleyball and cross country season to “get a feel of the things we need to really focus on in the first week of practice,” Wiley said.

He has focused on ball handling and half court defense, as well as working on being more efficient on offense, including a focus on shooting percentage and the ability to handle pressure on offense while applying pressure on defense. It will all be done according to the team culture Wiley has built year after year—a sense of togetherness. 

“Our motto this season will be ‘together.’ We are going to need everyone to contribute in practice, provide leadership, support and desire during our games. We want to be a team that not only works together on the basketball court, but also does things off the court with others in mind,” he said. 

The Warriors worked toward that togetherness at the recent Jesup Girls Jamboree, giving them a final opportunity to play together before the start of the regular season on Nov. 26, versus Clayton Ridge.

Looking ahead, Wiley said, “I want the girls to enjoy the season. I want them to desire to be better and work to make themselves the best version of themselves, on and off the court. I know that sounds cheesy in some ways, but I truly feel like this season needs to be a focus on support for one another and growth as a group, together.”