BonnerSprings.com

The Bonner Springs Bravettes finished their season with only four victories, but it is the way they grew as a team that has coach Clay Oakes encouraged about what is to come for his squad.

The team will lose two seniors — Anna Hutchinson and Starian Portia — but it stands to bring the remaining nine varsity players back next season with the experience of 21 varsity games under their belts.

“The season went as well as we expected it to,” Oakes said. “With as many underclassmen that are on this team and only three returning varsity players, we knew we had our work cut out for us. We knew what we had all along, and we hoped they could start coming together.”

The season began in a rough fashion for BSHS as it lost its first four contests before earning a victory against Turner right before the holiday break.

In the first half of the season, the Bravettes had depended heavily upon junior forward Malia Williams for the bulk of their scoring and rebounding. They started to get regular scoring out of junior Lynsey Ostman and sophomore Erica Smith as the season wore on, giving the team a multi-faceted offensive attack.

After returning from the three-week break, they ran into a hot Basehor-Linwood team that dealt the Bravettes a 17-point home loss. They then lost three games in the Wellsville Tournament and a game against Lansing in a five-day span.

When all looked lost for the Bravettes, freshmen Erica Wilson, Emily Wilson and Yessina Hernandez started to become more comfortable in their roles. Suddenly the team had some depth, and it marked a clear turning point for the Bravettes.

They won three of their last seven games without an injured Williams in the lineup, and they played several good teams close into the fourth quarter — something this team was unable to do at the beginning of the season. They nearly knocked off Mill Valley and Basehor-Linwood, teams that tied for second in the Kaw Valley League this season.

“I think we were a much better team at the end of the year,” Oakes said. “I was pretty happy with the way we finished the season and really felt that we were competitive. We took some good teams down to the wire and really competed despite missing our leading scorer (Williams).”

Now, the Bravettes will set their sights on summer basketball where Oakes hopes to see all the girls play 25-30 games. This is the first year that high school coaches can coach the summer teams, so it should provide the team an opportunity to grow even more comfortable with its system on offense.

“I think we are moving in the right direction with this program,” Oakes said. “If the ball bounces our way next season, I think we can be in the top half of the (Kaw Valley League), if not compete to finish in the top three or four teams. It will take hard work out of everybody, which we expect.”

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