Girls basketball: DeKalb sees growth, still searching for consistency after a busy summer

OSWEGO – Brad Bjelk declined to accept the cliché that things are by default easier as he navigates his second summer as DeKalb girls basketball coach.

That’s not how he’s wired.

“I don’t think it ever gets comfortable,” Bjelk said. “I think I keep trying to elevate the expectations and learning. I’m always thinking that we can do better.”

If anything, the Barbs have been busy. They completed their June schedule June 30 at the Oswego Shootout. The Barbs played in the Geneva Summer League, hosted six shootouts at DeKalb and averaged between four and eight games a week. It has Bjelk cautiously optimistic that his team can build on its 11-19 finish from his first season.

“We’ve been up and down but you want a tough summer. I’m happy with it.”

—  Brad Bjelk, DeKalb girls basketball coach

“The summer has been very good, intense, we’ve played a lot of games and put in a lot of work,” Bjelk said. “I felt it’s been a really good summer. We’ve been up and down, but you want a tough summer. I’m happy with it.”

Sophomore guard Olivia Schermerhorn, one of the players who will be returning for a young Barbs’ team, agreed.

“I think it’s been a good summer,” Schermerhorn said. “We’re picking things up, just learning how to play better with each other. It’s been hard learning how to play together, we are young, but we’re starting to get it.”

Besides games, Schermerhorn has been putting in the time to become a better point guard.

“I’ve been working a lot on my ballhandling,” she said. “I go to the gym, and then I stay after. I go before practice and work on it with my teammates. It’s been good. My offhand has gotten better.”

DeKalb may have one senior on the varsity for the upcoming season. But Bjelk is pleased to report that numbers are up program-wide. There were 30-35 girls in camp throughout all levels.

“The numbers are increasing, which is good,” Bjelk said. “We’ve certainly learned a lot this summer. I feel like we are in a better place than last summer, and the program in general. I just want to keep growing and keep pushing these girls to get them to be as best as they can be. I don’t want them to ever settle. They can always be better basketball players, just like I can be a better coach.”

As Bjelk reflected on the past June schedule and looked ahead, he is looking to see more consistency from his team.

“We’ve beat some really good teams and lost to some teams I felt like we should have beat, and the girls would tell you the same thing,” he said. “That consistency is what we’re looking for, helping them be better committed basketball players and committed young women through the game of basketball. We’re using basketball to teach them that in hopes of elevating their whole future. I never want them to be satisfied. I always feel like we can do better.”