Sports

Stars aim high in Forsberg's final year

By Tyler Ohmann

12/06/2011

For the past couple years Bottineau head girls basketball coach Mike Forsberg has been flirting with ending his reign as the coach of the Stars.

He has never been quite able to do it, and this year appears to be his final season. He hopes to try and return to the glory that was three straight state titles from 2006-08.

The one remaining piece to the puzzle that was those tournament teams is senior Heidi Artz, and that experience is what Forsberg hopes will make a successful 2011-12 campaign.

“Heidi is the last hold over from the state tournament teams, so that is a real plus,” Forsberg said. “She knows what it takes having been a part of that.”

The Stars who finished at 9-14 last season and snuck in to the region tournament after finishing fourth in District 11 are hoping to improve on that using tough defense.

“Defensively I think we have to hang our hat on that,” Forsberg said. “If we are going to get things done it is going to have to be on the defensive end.”

The Stars return seven players from last years team notably Artz and seniors Mikayla Hahn, Whitney Page and Trista Bjerk.

With none of those leaders taller than five-foot, eight inches, Forsberg knows that they will lack height this season, and that rebounding will be a challenge.

“We need to get better on the boards, because we are going to give up a lot of height,” Forsberg said.

The Stars started practice on Nov. 28 and the first couple practices were a bit of struggle according to Forsberg.

“It’s really early in practice, but what I’ve seen so far is a lot of rust,” Forsberg said. “We just need to get into the gym and get playing more and more.”

Bottineau opens the season as usual in Minot for the Shootout on the Prairie where they will tussle with Dickinson Trinity and Thompson.

“You find out where you are at in a hurry when you start in Minot,” Forsberg said. “We start out against a couple good teams. It will be a good test to see where we are at.”

Trinity won the District 14 title last year and return several players from last years squad. Thompson finished third in District 3 last season and return all but one player from last years team.

Forsberg hopes the stiff competition will give the Stars an idea of what they need to improve upon.

“Win or lose you can take some things out of there that the kids then realize this is what we need to work hard on,” Forsberg said.

The Stars are projected to finish third in District 12 this season by the Miss Hoopster preview. Forsberg said he is pleased with how the Stars are going to look this year.

“All in all I really like where we are at, but it is a long way to go,” Forsberg said.