Hawks look to build tradition

A year ago Ryan Koenig took over the Shawano Community High School girls basketball program and set out to change the culture.

The Hawks improved to 7-16 (4-12 Bay Conference), and the coach wants that improvement to continue.

“Last year our saying was starting a tradition,” Koenig said. “Changing the culture of the program. I think we did a good job with that that first year. … This year we have to carry that on. We had seven wins last year and we should certainly have more than that this year.”

If excitement for the program is any measure, Shawano’s future looks bright. Fifty girls showed up for basketball tryouts.

“We had to make some cuts, which is great for the program. Not necessarily great for the coaches, but great for the program,” Koenig said. “The competition and the attitudes of the young girls are great.”

On the court, the team will have to deal with losing leading scorer Whitney Boda, who was a first-team all-conference selection and third in scoring with 240 points. She averaged 15 points a game.

Ariel Oviedo and Hannah Hinnefeld also graduated last spring.

“The offense won’t change much, but we won’t have that one person that we can get the ball to and just know that they’re going to score her 15 to 18 points a game,” Koenig said. “So that’s going to be different, but that’s also good because defenses can’t key on one person this year. We’re going to have a very deep team and everyone will have to contribute.”

The Hawks won’t open their season until Dec. 10 against Mosinee, so the coach has yet to set his starting lineup.

The team has four seniors returning. Lyndsey Kurtz and Kayla Hokenstad played significant minutes a year ago. Also back are Kia Smurawa and Brianna Laabs.

The team also has three juniors in Brianna Boda, Courtney Vomasitc and Riley Tejada, a transfer from Milwaukee.

The rest of the roster will include eight sophomores who played on the junior varsity a year ago.

“That’s the great thing about having 15 people on the roster — they’re all competing for time right now,” Koenig said. “It’s an open competition right now.”

Whoever is in the lineup, Koenig expects the Hawks to climb the Bay Conference standings.

“The Bay Conference is always tough for girls basketball, we know that,” Koenig said. “New London, Hortonville and Oconto Falls, those three are picked by everybody to be on the top. … We’re hoping that we can compete with those top teams. We feel we should be able to compete with those teams. We have to go out and prove it.”