Gresham brings back majority of roster

Consistency has brought some confidence and calmness to the Gresham girls basketball team this winter.

Now in their second year under head coach Vaughn Miller, and with just one new player on the varsity roster, the Wildcats are already further ahead in the season preparation than anticipated.

“This year has been a lot smoother. I’m familiar with the girls, and they definitely understand a lot of the stuff I like to do,” Miller said. “We’re making a few tweaks, looking to change a few things up.”
Gresham went 7-15 overall and 4-14 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-10 last year, recording more victories than the previous three seasons combined.

“We did win more games last year than we intended to, so I think we’ll have more confidence this year,” senior forward Sydney Jensen said.

The Wildcats used a zone defense last season to prevent opponents from getting the ball inside. The problems for Gresham were turnovers and getting beat on the glass defensively.

This season, Miller said, will be a different story.

“We’re still going to bring that grit and grind, that hard-nosed defense, but we also want to extend,” Miller said. “We want to be able to force more turnovers. Be a little more aggressive on defense instead of being a little more passive.

Make them make mistakes as opposed to wait for them to make mistakes.”

The speed at the wing and guard positions could help defensively and push the pace on offense when necessary. In those positions will likely be Mackenzie Hoffman and Makena Arndt. Junior Dani Huntington, who is new to the team this year, could work her way from the bench into the starting rotation, Miller said.

“We’re going to have to play really good defense on the bigger girls because we don’t have a big girl on our team,” Jensen said. “We’re going to have to be quick. I think we’re going to have to be more of a running team this year to keep up with the bigger girls.”

The Wildcats lack size in the post, where Jensen and junior Kamille Davids will set up shop.

Gresham showed positive signs throughout last season and was able to compete with the top teams in the CWC-10, Bowler and Tri-County, the second time they played them.

Miller said the team was scared heading into the WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal loss to Gillett to end last season, something that won’t happen again.

“We didn’t end the season the way we wanted to, but this season, I think the negativity is gone, the fear is gone,” Miller said. “They understand they can make some noise this year.”

The Wildcats lost center River Otradovec and guards Taylor Hoffman and Tatelyn Ferguson from last year’s squad to graduation.