Girls basketball: Mendota aims to be competitive after 4-win campaign

After going 4-22 overall and 3-9 in the Three Rivers Conference East Division last winter, Mendota girls basketball coach John Hansen has a simple goal for the Trojans this season.

“We want to go into every game with the idea that we have the possibility of winning,” Hansen said. “We want to compete for the conference. I tell them every day there’s nobody in the conference we can’t beat and nobody in the conference who can’t beat us. We want to compete so there’s nobody who’s circling us saying, ‘We got this one.’

“The goal this year is to be competitive, and wins or being high up in the conference [standings] are just icing on the cake.”

The Trojans, who Hansen said had improved numbers during offseason workouts, hope to be competitive with their athleticism, speed and size.

Offensively, Mendota will look to get the ball inside to Reanna Brant, a 6-foot senior who is a returning starter, along with Naitzy Garcia, a 5-10 senior who started at times last season while also serving as the team’s sixth man.

The Trojans will work inside-out, hoping their strength inside will open the perimeter for shooters such as returning starter Katie Jenner.

Senior forward Grace Wasmer saw some action last season, senior guard Gracie Zinke is expected to contribute, and Karly Reel is expected to play a key role after missing all of her freshman season and half of last season with an injury.

Brant averaged a team-best 9.6 points per game last season while grabbing an area-best 10.7 rebounds per contest. Jenner averaged 3.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 1 assist per game

“We’re fairly big this year,” Hansen said. “We’re building around that. We’re setting our offense up around trying to get it inside with less dribbling and more trying to feed the post. We’ll do some high-low, then hopefully get some shots. We’re hoping to get some kickouts to [Jenner] and some pick and rolls with her.

“We’re definitely trying to take advantage of our size. If you have somebody with some size who can handle the ball [like Brant], that’s a pretty big deal.”

The Trojans also will try to “really push the ball in transition, run the floor this year and get out ahead of teams.”

Mendota hopes to do that by rebounding well and playing aggressive defense.

“We want to take more chances this year,” Hansen said. “I feel like sometimes we lay back a little thinking because we’re in a zone, or we’re facing someone where we may be an underdog that we have to lay back and just react instead of forcing them into some things. We want to use our athleticism, speed and length to our advantage on the defensive end.

“We’re pushing this year to take some chances, jump some passes, try to pressure people and double down when we can. Not quite run and jump, but have that instinct where you can go double and try to get a steal and get out running. We have some size in the post, so hopefully we rebound and push the ball off that too.”