How will East Grand Forks Senior High deal with the graduation of last year's inside presence, Kate Warmack -- the 6-foot-2 post who holds the school's all-time scoring record?
The Green Wave will look no further than the final two games of the 2009-10 season.
In the Minnesota Section 8AA semifinals against Warroad, Green Wave guard Chelsey Frydenlund, who was averaging more than 15 points per game, suffered an MCL tear in the first half.
Despite missing its floor general, Senior High went on to beat Warroad. Then in the section championship against Hawley, the Green Wave lost by two in overtime without the services of Frydenlund, even though the Nuggets had boasted two comfortable victories over Senior High during the regular season.
The elevated play of Senior High's role players during that stretch is what encourages the Green Wave entering this season without Warmack, who scored 1,433 points in her prep career.
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"That game (against Hawley) has been what's motivating us," said Frydenlund, who has verbally committed to play college basketball at UND next season. "... how well we played when the odds were against us."
Senior High coach Durene Frydenlund, Chelsey's mother, also noted the confidence gained by her team in the loss to Hawley in the section championship.
"The girls who stepped on the court in that game refused to get beat up," Durene Frydenlund said. "That's definitely in the back of our minds right now."
Without Warmack, the Green Wave will rely on an up-tempo style, which has become a staple of Durene Frydenlund-coached teams.
Senior High has the ideal personnel to carry out the quickened pace.
Green Wave guard Brooke Greenwood had 110 steals last year, while Chelsey Frydenlund had 93, KayLeigh Kuznia had 70 and Brandi Wickersham had 66.
"The key is their quickness and good anticipation," Durene Frydenlund said. "A good defender is always anticipating and one step ahead. You also have to have ball pressure."
Warmack was Senior High's only senior last year, but she was also the team's only player taller than 6-foot.
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Junior forward Jenna Perreault, who will take Warmack's spot in the starting lineup, is 5-foot-11.
Without much size, the Wave will rely on positioning.
"We're doing lots of boxing out drills in practice," Chelsey Frydenlund said. "Rebounding will be interesting because Kate usually got us about 10 rebounds per game.
"So our focus is going to be on pushing the ball. It's going to help that all of our players can dribble."
Miller reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1121; (800) 477-6572, ext. 121; or send e-mail to tmiller@gfherald.com .
GF Red River
Coach: Kent Ripplinger.
2009-10 record: 21-4 overall, 13-1 region.
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Key returners: Sr. F Emily Asche (all-conference, 11.1 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game); sr. F Maggi Ferry (3.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg); sr. G Janelle Carroll (2.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg); sr. G Mandy Christian.
Top newcomers: Sr. G Amanda Knudson; sr. G Katie Ronkowski; jr. F Ashley Knecht; jr. G JoDee Wheeler; jr. F Shelby Bommersbach; soph. G Ellie Ripplinger; sr. F Kelsey Conneran.
Coach Ripplinger says: "This group, even though they had some playing time last year, is going to be inexperienced to a point. They're going to have to take on the duties of the five seniors (who graduated). They're going to have to take on a more substantial role. That's going to take some time to grow into. The strength of the team is we should be able to play quite a few kids. Our depth should help us as the year goes on."
GF Central
Coach: Brent Hintz.
2009-10 record: 5-16 overall, 3-11 region.
Key returners: Sr. F Caitlin Farroh (22.5 points per game, 17.4 rebounds per game, 5.1 blocks per game, 3.5 steals per game); sr. G Rebecca Fee (11.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.7 assists per game); sr. G Courtney Hammer (8.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.6 apg); jr. F Michaela Johnson (4.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg); sr. G Jessica Lindsay (6.6 ppg, 3.6 apg, 2.9 rpg); jr. F Brianna Bacon (4.9 ppg); soph. F Taylor Hammer; sr. G Jennifer Erickson.
Top newcomers: Fr. G Nicole Fennell; fr. F Katelyn Olson; soph. G Taylor Ray.
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Coach Hintz says: "We have a lot of kids that played a lot of minutes last year. They learned a lot about, not only basketball, but about themselves. We had a good summer and offseason, focusing on team chemistry and team building. We've also really focused on defense. We felt we needed to get better on defense. We want to make the girls understand how important defense is, and we're looking for kids who will 'D' it up because those are going to be the kids that will get playing time."
EGF Senior High
Coach: Durene Frydenlund.
2009-10 record: 22-8 overall, 8-0 in section.
Key returners: Sr. G Chelsey Frydenlund (15.5 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game, 5.0 assists per game, 3.1 steals per game); jr. G Brandi Wickersham (5.8 ppg, 2.5 apg); sr. G Brooke Greenwood (9.6 ppg, 2.6 apg, 3.6 spg); sr. F KayLeigh Kuznia (5.0 ppg); sr. G Trisha Lewis (3.7 ppg); jr. F Jenna Perreault; jr. F Anna Hulteng.
Top newcomers: Soph. G Aubrey Carlstrom; jr. F Casi Carter; fr. G Alex Arroyo.
Coach Frydenlund says: "We lost our inside presence (Kate Warmack to graduation), but we also have many returning starters and girls who came off the bench. They play well together. We're going to miss Kate, but hopefully we can work hard enough to overcome that lack of height."
EGF Sacred Heart
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Coach: JoAnn Remer.
2009-10 record: 3-19 overall, 3-15 in section.
Key returners: Sr. F Samantha McDonald (13.6 points per game, 8.0 rebounds per game); sr. G Tia Klein; jr. F Lindsey Marek; jr. G Amanda Goddin (3.5 ppg); jr. G Haley Peters.
Top newcomers: Fr. F Jordyn Lloyd; fr. G Stacy Remer; soph. F Abby Schumacher.
Coach Remer says: "Our numbers are low, so we have a mixture of different people. In our starting lineup, we have two seniors, two freshmen and a junior. We're looking for big things out of (Samantha McDonald). Same with Tia Klein, who had knee surgery last year. She got hurt in our third game last season. She's back to full strength. She did well taking the ball to the hole and rebounding in the (Thief River Falls tournament). Early in the season, with some younger kids, we need to work on taking care of the ball."
