Sports

DCB sets sights on region title and beyond

By Tyler Ohmann

10/29/2013

After capturing Region XIII titles in two of the past three seasons the Dakota College at Bottineau Ladyjacks are hoping to take that even further in 2013-14.

“Our goal is to go a little bit farther than that,” said Ladyjacks head coach Wayne Johnson. “Our first goal is to win another region championship, but our ultimate goal is to go further than that and win that next one.”

However, that will be easier said then done as the Ladyjacks lost several key pieces to last years region championship team.

“We lost five starters from that team, and three kids that were All-MonDak, so there are big shoes to fill there,” Johnson said. “We have five sophomores returning who we hope will give us a little bit of leadership.”

“We just need to have a the right pieces and the right chemistry to fit together to be successful,” Johnson added.

The Ladyjacks do return five sophomores and Johnson said he believes that this years group is as athletic a group as he has had in recent memory.

“We think we have some good athletes that we have recruited, and more depth than we’ve had in the past,” Johnson said. “We may be more athletic than we have been in awhile, whether we’re going to fit together as a basketball team or as good of basketball players as we’ve had in the past remains to be seen.”

The Ladyjacks recently returned from some scrimmages in Brandon, Manitoba where they lost a couple of strong post players to injury.
Two posts were injured in a scrimmage in Brandon, MB. One of the guards that the Ladyjacks were hoping could have a big year injured her wrist recently, but it’s unknown how long she may be sidelined with the injury.

Those weren’t the only negatives that happened north of the border though, Johnson saw a lot of youth in their play.

“I saw a lot of inexperience out there, but it’s just a different game, and it takes awhile for them to adjust,” Johnson said. “We just haven’t quite figured out how you need to score in college basketball.”

The Ladyjacks most recent preseason work came last Thursday when they scrimmaged nearby Turtle Mountain Community College. In the week between the scrimmages Johnson noticed a lot of growth.

“I saw progress in our scrimmage last Thursday,” Johnson said. “I saw kids figuring out a little bit more how to hunt for shots and to get to the paint.”

“I saw growth from one weekend to the next. We have a long way to go, but I do like the potential of the team,” Johnson added.

The two recurring themes in the Ladyjacks preseason mindset center around chemistry and potential, and those are things that they look to suss out at the Kevin Thom Classic, which they will host this Friday and Saturday.

“We want to find out where everybody is at,” Johnson said about the upcoming Kevin Thom Classic. “We learned a little bit from the scrimmage, but we haven’t had the volleyball players with us yet.”

A big thing the Ladyjacks coaching staff is trying to push this season is an uptempo style.

“We’re looking at trying to push the ball and play at a faster pace this year than we have in the past,” Johnson said. “Part of that is because of the depth that we have, and the other part is that we’re going to have to come away with some easy baskets, which you can in transition.”

Another thing that points to the positive for DCB is their depth, especially in the post.

“We like our interior play, we aren’t too big, but I think we have a lot of athleticism in there,” Johnson said. “Whitney Brandvold from Bottineau gives us some pretty good size, and she has surprised and really played well the first couple of scrimmages.”

Quickness looks to also be a strength according to Johnson, especially within the guard ranks.

“On the perimeter we do have some quickness, but whether we shoot the ball as well from the three point line as we have in the past, that remains to be seen,” Johnson said. “We’ll handle the ball well, and I’m not too worried about that.”

Two things to look out for according to Johnson will be the Ladyjacks’ ability to come together as a team and their shooting range.

“The two things that I’m most concerned about right now is the chemistry, and how we’re going to fit together and become one, which I think is so important particularly in basketball,” Johnson said. “The second thing is going to be our perimeter shooting, if we shoot well from there I think we have the potential to have a pretty good team.”

Johnson also threw out a few keys for early in the season.

“Keys for us this year is that we have to play fast, play together, stay healthy and those things you can’t predict,” Johnson said. “I just think there is real good potential, and we’ll see where it goes.”

DCB kicks off the season at 6 p.m. on Friday as they play their first game of the Kevin Thom Classic. They will play again at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Returning sophomore players for the Ladyjacks include: Mackenzie Bickford, Dominique Staten, Tiffany Bradford, Taylor Ward and Leah Parizek.

Area freshmen that joined the team are Haley Sabe (Bowman, N.D.), Shikiya Chase (Belcourt, N.D.), Tessa Walters (Makoti, N.D.), Savannah Bruce ( St. John, N.D.) and Brandvold.

The Ladyjacks went 12-20 overall last season, but turned it on late and made the run to one game short of the National Tournament.