(Anita) CAM returns three starters and a lot of production from a girls basketball team that had undefeated and 10th rated Stanton on the ropes in the regional tournament.
Coach Joe Wollum and the Cougars finished with 19 wins and five losses last year. Leading scorer Eva Steffensen (13.5 ppg) is back as are several other key contributors. “A couple of excellent seniors coming back in Reese Snyder and Bree Bower. Excited for Bree. if things go right she may get a starting spot here.” Wollum says, “Reese has been playing for us for quite a while and also in that senior class we have Naomi Grubbs and Abby Tibken, so some good depth and leadership from that senior crew.”
Snyder averaged 6.3 points per game and made a team best 27 3-pointers a year ago. Steffensen and the rest of the junior class bring a lot of ability to the floor. “Eva Steffensen has been a starter since day one as a freshman. Expecting big things out of her. Kiera Nichols is another girl I’m excited about.” Wollum adds, “Emma Follmann is another girl we are excited about. She’s kind of waited her time and I expect some big things out of her too. A lot of key pieces back and a lot of experience and we are excited to get this season rolling.” Wollum says Meredith Rich is another member of that class that saw a lot of varsity time as a sophomore.
As mentioned, they gave Stanton a run for their money in the postseason last year and coach Wollum looks for that to be a motivating factor. “Left you hungry at the end of the season. I think we had a six point lead with 6:00 to go in that game and couldn’t come up with it. That puts a chip on our shoulder going forward. We have some big goals.”
The Cougars do have some key pieces to replace such as Mallory Behnken, who is now playing at DMACC, and four year varsity contributor Marissa Spieker. “We are trying to figure out the pieces. We want to be fundamentally sound and this year I’ve noticed we’ve been crisper passing the ball and doing the little things. We are definitely further ahead than we have been in recent years.”
Exira-EHK went undefeated in the conference last year with CAM and Woodbine each having three league losses. That trio will likely battle it out the top again this year. “A lot of the same. Someone has to de-throne Exira-EHK. Until someone can do that they are still at the top. Woodbine also brings a ton back from a very good team that we split with. Hopefully we find ourselves right there if we can take care of business.”
CAM will scrimmage Griswold on November 21st and begin their season at AHSTW on November 22nd.
CAM coach Joe Wollum:
