(Oakland, IA) — Just two seasons ago, Riverside girls basketball had just completed their 13th straight season with under 10 wins — last week the Bulldogs finished their best season in school history at 20-4 and nearly upset #1 ranked St. Albert in the regional finals. Riverside has come a long way in a short amount of time and first year Head Coach Mark Jeppesen says if some things had gone their way, they might have been in the state tournament right now
Riverside loses four seniors including full time starter Sophia Taylor who averaged 6.6 points a game. Elly Henderson joined the team after winter break and Ayla Richardson and Ryleigh Ewalt were solid contributors. It must be noted that the Bulldogs had a large rotation and nobody on the team averaged in double figures — it was truly a team effort says Jeppesen
The Bulldogs have a lot of talent coming back including a sophomore class that ate up a lot of minutes — Sydney Somers (8.3 ppg, 6.1 rbg), Kayden Schnack (8.2 ppg), and Sophia Fenner (6.6 ppg, 5.2 rbg). Jeppesen says watch out for Junior Madison Kelley and Sophomore Lilli Reed who will get increased minutes. Adaline Martens, Bailey Richardson and Karlie Miller will be the senior leaders along with Kelley next year. The standard bearer in the Western Iowa Conference is Treynor and Jeppesen says they need to improve their overall fundamentals to catch the Cardinals
Jeppesen says they met their goals this season and he didn’t they would be contending for the state basketball tournament but it only fuels the fire for next season.
Complete Interview with Head Coach Mark Jeppesen
