Returning are seniors Emily Konkel – a starter – and Kaylee Niebrugge – a part-time starter. Seniors Courtney Gibson and Jolene Deters, plus junior Summer Wall, are returning lettermen. Each of those girls played limited minutes on last year’s squad.

“This group is very coachable and they work very hard,” Thompson explained. “We don’t have a lot of varsity experience, but we do have seven seniors who have been in our program. This team isn’t really great at anything right now, but they’re very good, especially their defense and rebounding. Our scoring needs to be better. That’s easily our biggest challenge.

“The potential for growth is very high,” the coach added. “We’re nowhere close to where we can be.”

Four seniors – Niebrugge, Konkel, Gibson and Deters – along with sophomore Chloe Probst are the projected starters.

“With Kaylee, it’s like having another coach on the floor,” Thompson said. “She understands the game very well. She gives us a strong inside presence, but she can also step out and hit the three. She allows us to have flexibility in our offense. I would like to see her rebound better.”

Konkel is the point guard and the team’s most athletic player.

“She’s long, quick and very good defensively,” the coach noted. “She’s also a very good shooter. They just haven’t dropped for her yet. Emily has the ability to take over a game if she wants to.”

Gibson is one of the team’s better shooters.

“We need some outside scoring from her,” Thompson said. “She’s a good rebounder, but needs to be better on defense. She’s definitely one of our shooting threats.”

Deters is the team’s best defensive player.

“She will guard our opponents’ best player,” Thompson pointed out. “She’s been doing a very good job so far. Hopefully, she’ll score a little for us, but if she can be our defensive stopper, that will really help us.”

Probst can play both inside and outside.

“She can finish well around the rim and is working on her outside shot,” Thompson said. “These are her first quality minutes on the varsity, so there will be a learning curve. But so far, I’m very pleased.”

Wall figures to see ample playing time. She is another defensive-minded player that will give Deters a break at times. Thompson said she’s an aggressive player that can get to the basket and also has a nice mid-range shot.

Others that could figure into the rotation are seniors Estella Mette, Katie Kremer and Taylor Bueker; juniors Isabella Zerrusen and Kaitlyn Vahling; and sophomore Molly Ruholl.

As usual, the Lady Shoes will play a challenging schedule again this season. New this year will be a game at Benton, which is the next game on December 1, and a trip to the Breese Central Shootout in January where they will face Rochester.

“We’ll probably take some lumps along the way, but we’ll learn from it,” Thompson said. “We want to be prepared for the postseason.

“Making a deep run in the postseason is always the goal here,” Thompson added. “This team has a great upside. We just have to get there. But it will be a journey. It won’t happen overnight.

“This is a great bunch of kids and the potential is there. We just have to find a way to make it happen.”