(Guthrie Center) ACGC girls basketball feels like they got a taste of success last year and they’ll be looking for better things to come this season.
Brad Baudler enters his 2nd season as the head coach and is the first Charger coach since Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center merged five years ago to last more than one season. “I feel like we set a culture last year and now we keep building. I think we are head and shoulders more prepared for this season compared to last just because we have a year under our belt and they know what to expect.”
The team finished with 11 wins last year, their highest total in their brief history. “The big thing is getting kids to believe in what you are trying to do, and that’s not easy. The big thing with that is we did a lot of offseason stuff, we have for the last two years. Getting kids to realize how much they’ve improved and then just getting them to believe in what you are talking about and gaining that trust and that respect.” The offseason program includes three days per week of lifting, two individual workouts with coach Baudler per week, open gyms, and a lot of making shots.
Alaina Bunde and EmmaKay McClain are the top two scorers returning after each averaged more than nine points per game last year. Kylie Young and Sophie Dorsey also played a lot of varsity minutes. “Those four saw a lot of varsity and have been my leaders that brought the younger girls along.”
A strong group of freshman enters the fray. Baudler is excited to see who can contribute what at the varsity level. “I don’t know who is going to really stand out here.” He says, “They are a really solid group and I could see some of them playing varsity, I just don’t know who is going to stand out.”
Conditioning is a big priority for coach Baudler in the early going along with working on fundamentals and gaining an understanding of the team’s concepts on offense and defense.
