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A look at the Putnam County, Mendota, Princeton, Bureau Valley, Earlville, Fieldcrest and Henry-Senachwine girls basketball teams entering the 2024-25 season.
Putnam County
Coach: Jared Sale (10th season, 134-119)
Last season’s record: 19-13, 8-6 Tri-County
Top returning players: Eme Bouxsein, sr., G; Maggie Spratt, sr., F; Valeria Villagomez, sr.; Kacie Coleman, sr.
Top newcomers: Addy Leatherman, jr.; Teaghan Sarver, jr.
Worth noting: The Panthers took a major hit from graduation, losing Ava Hatton, Maggie Richetta and Gabby Doyle, who were all multi-year starters. Hatton was a three-time NewsTribune All-Area first-team selection who finished third on the program’s career scoring list with 1,441 points, while Richetta was NewsTribune All-Area second-team as a senior. “We lost 98% of our scoring from last year’s team, so offensively we’ll be looking for our group of four seniors to fill offensive production right away, with Bouxsein and Spratt leading the way,” Sale said. Villagomez and Coleman will step into larger roles this winter, while juniors Addy Leatherman and Teaghan Sarver also are expected to contribute. While the offense is a question mark, Sale expects the Panthers to be solid on defense. “We should be able to excel on the defensive end of the floor,” Sale said. “We should have a pretty seamless transition. This is a group that really gets after it on the defensive side of the ball and we expect that to keep us in games until we get the offensive side of things a little more sorted out.” Last season, Putnam County led the area in team defense as the Panthers allowed 35.6 points per game. “I think we can be near the top of the list on points allowed per game in the area again, and if we are able to do that I think our win total will correlate,” Sale said. “We just want to come out and compete every night and continue to get better offensively as the season progresses.”
Mendota
Coach: John Hansen (eighth season)
Last season’s record: 5-24, 0-10 Three Rivers East
Top returning players: Laylie Denault, jr., G; Cassie Gonzalez, sr., F; Ava Eddy, sr., G; Ella Martin, sr., G; Kennedy Knaff, sr., G; Ella Coss, sr., G; Crystal Garcia, sr., G
Top newcomer: Elaina Reddin, sr., F
Worth noting: The Trojans have more participants in the program with eight varsity players, 11 sophomores and 16 freshmen. Six seniors return, including Gonzalez after she missed last season with an injury, along with Denault. “We’re extremely athletic, fast and play very hard,” Hansen said. Eddy was the team’s leading scorer last season at 5.5 points per game, while Martin was third at 4.1. Gonzalez was the team’s third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder as a sophomore. “We struggle with confidence offensively,” Hansen said. “But Martin, Garcia, Gonzalez and Denault can all get to the rim, and Eddy and Coss have carried us at times shooting. Hopefully, the work we’ve put in trying to build that confidence and tweaking our shots will help us finish better this season.” Hansen said he expects the Trojans to be relentless on defense. “I fully expect us to never get out-competed at the defensive end. Defense is a huge percentage of how hard you want to work. We want to work really hard for each other and hopefully help make up for any offensive struggles we may have.”
Princeton
Coach: Tiffany Gonigam
Last season’s record: 20-9, 9-1 Three Rivers East
Top returning players: Keighley Davis, jr., F; Camryn Driscoll, jr., G; Paige Jesse, sr., G; Olivia Mattingly, sr., F; Makayla Hecht, jr., F; Reese Reviglio, jr., F
Top newcomers: Kiyrra Morris, so., G; Danika Burden, so., C; Riley Rauh, jr., G; Payton Brandt, fr., F; Avaya Koning, fr., F
Worth noting: The Tigresses have gone 67-17 with three Three Rivers Conference East Division championships over the past three seasons and look to continue their winning ways with an experienced roster, led by unanimous all-conference selections Davis and Driscoll. Davis averaged 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals last year, while Driscoll averaged 12.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 4 steals. Jesse was honorable mention all-conference. “The program has had a lot of success over the past few seasons, and the girls certainly want to continue that. We play a tough schedule this year, and the conference brings back a bunch of talented teams and players, but the girls are up for the challenge. Every tough game we can play early on will only make us better come January and February.” Mattingly, Hecht and Reviglio all saw significant playing time last year, while Morris and Burden saw limited varsity minutes as freshmen. Senior Halli Peterson returns after missing last season due to injury, while Zoey Byers and Nevaeh Briddick also will return. Rauh, Brandt and Koning are newcomers expected to make an impact. “I feel the girls have picked up right where they left off, building chemistry with each other and setting a standard for what it looks like to work hard at practice,” Gonigam said.
Bureau Valley
Coach: Jonathon Henegar (first season)
Last season’s record: 14-16
Top returning players: Bella Birkey, sr.; Lesleigh Maynard, sr.; Emma Stull, sr.; Emma Mussche, jr.; Emily Wright, jr.; Libby Endress, so.
Top newcomers: Kadyn Haage, jr., Abby Jamison, jr.; Ashlyn Maupin, jr.; Maddie Wetzell, jr.; Alivia Zemke, jr.; Brooke Helms, fr.
Worth noting: The Storm faces a lot of change this season. Henegar, a Princeton graduate who’s coached at Kewanee the past 12 years, takes over for Matt Wasilewski, while the roster has big holes to fill. BV lost 1,000-point scorer Kate Salisbury along with Lynzie Cady and Kate Stoller to graduation, and Taylor Neuhalfen (9.9 points per game last season) to transfer. Endress is the Storm’s top returning scorer at 7 points per game while dishing out 4.9 assists per game last year. “We are going to push the ball in transition and be aggressive offensively, while also sharing the ball, which will hopefully lead to some balanced scoring throughout the season,” Henegar said. The Storm will look to push the pace this season as they transition to the Lincoln Trail Conference. “I think the kids have really bought into the idea of playing fast this season,” Henegar said. “There has been a lot of positive energy and enthusiasm at each and every practice. I expect us to be very competitive this season with both our nonconference and conference schedule.”
Earlville
Coach: Brandon Skolek (fifth season, 35-59)
Last season’s record: 5-25, 2-4 Little Ten
Top returning players: Natalie Hall, sr.; Addie Scherer, so.
Top newcomers: Kyley Helgesen, so.; Audrey Scherer, fr.
Worth noting: The Red Raiders lost their top two scorers from last season in Madyson Olson and Nevaeh Sansone. Olson finished as Earlville’s career scoring leader with 1,198 points. “Offensively, we have to find our identity throughout the year,” Skolek said. “We lost our top two scorers who accounted for a large percentage of our overall points. We expect Natalie Hall, Addie Scherer, Jacey Helgesen and Elizabeth Vazquez to take big steps up on offense.” While Earlville needs people to step up on offense, Skolek expects to rely on the defense. “We expect our defense to be the heart of our team,” Skolek said. “We have asked the girls to really put a focus and a lot of effort into that end of the floor. We believe that for us to have success, it has to start on defense. … We are a relatively quick team that hopes to cause havoc on that side of the floor.” The Red Raiders hope to improve on last year’s win total. “We are still relatively young,” Skolek said. “We plan to start three sophomores. We are excited to see growth.”
Fieldcrest
Coach: Nate Ehrhardt (second season, 21-9)
Last season’s record: 21-9
Top returning players: Emily Tooley, sr., F; Macy Gochanour, jr., PG; Pru Mangan, jr., F; TeriLynn Timmerman, so., G/F
Top newcomers: Ava Gott, jr., G; Madeline Theesfield, so., F; Olivia Denk, so., G
Worth noting: The Knights lost two-time NewsTribune All-Area first-team pick Kaitlin White, the second-leading scorer in program history with 1,637 points, but return a nucleus of players from last year’s 21-win squad in Gochanour, Mangan, Tooley and Timmerman. Gochanour and Mangan were All-Heart of Illinois Conference honorable mention, and Gochanour is on pace to join the 1,000-point club this season. “We have a young team, but within that youth they have seen a lot of experience in varsity play,” Ehrhardt said. “Macy, Pru and TeriLynn saw significant minutes last year and were a large key to last year’s success. I see that depth of game experience allowing each of them to settle in earlier in the season this year and thus better lead our team night in and night out for some of our newer players who are looking forward to competing at the varsity level.” Ehrhardt said the Knights have a variety of offensive threats and will have “a balanced scoring approach.” Defensively, he expects Fieldcrest “to be a scrappy team that’s willing and able to place pressure on the ball.” “I believe we will have the ability to compete for the small school conference championship again and we hope to be able to finish in the top four overall in what will be a competitive conference again,” Ehrhardt said. “We are also playing in Thanksgiving and Christmas tournaments and our goal is to play in the championship game of both events.”
Henry-Senachwine
Coach: Clinton Schlosser (first season)
Last season’s record: 8-22, 0-14 Tri-County
Top returning players: Kaitlyn Anderson, sr., C; Lauren Harbison, sr., G; Brynna Anderson, so., G; Rachel Eckert, jr., G; Brooklynn Thompson, jr., F
Top newcomers: Harper Schrock, jr. C; Grace Anderson, so., F; Bella Williams, fr., G
Worth noting: Schlosser, a Henry graduate, takes over the program and inherits an experienced roster with a group that has had success recently with a regional title in softball in the spring and a sectional final appearance in volleyball. “The girls have bought into the new direction of the program,” Schlosser said. “They show up to practice and give full effort. They bring in a winning attitude from the past two sports seasons. We have had a later start than most teams, but they have been working hard to improve.” Kaitlyn Anderson averaged 12.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game last season, while Eckert averaged 7 points, and Brynna Anderson averaged 5.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2 steals. “The strengths of the team are our interior presence and senior leadership,” Schlosser said. The Mallards look to improve their conference record. “One goal this year is to win a conference game,” Schlosser said. “The previous two years Henry has not won a conference game. Another goal is to become more balanced on offense. We expect to compete with most teams this year, but we understand that a new system will take time to implement.”