Winamac girls basketball preview: After 14-win season, Lady Warriors set high goals

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The Winamac girls basketball team followed a four-win season in 2022-23 with a 14-win season in 2023-24.

That included a Kitchen Classic title in which they beat Delphi on Delphi’s home court in the championship game. They also won sectional games over Wabash and Pioneer before falling to Lewis Cass in the sectional final. The sectional game wins were their first in five years.

Maggie Smith and Piper Link, who combined for over 15 points and nine rebounds per game, both graduated. Lily Bennett, another frequent starter, also graduated.

Winamac boasts only nine players in the program, including no freshmen. The team will play a varsity-only schedule.

However, the top two scorers return in junior point guard Kandace Kroft and junior post Marissa Iverson. Each averaged 9.9 ppg last year. Iverson is also the leading returning rebounder at 5.9 per game, and Kroft averaged 5.5 rebounds per game.

The low numbers are not impairing high hopes.

“I think and fully expect us to compete for the HNAC, the Kitchen Classic and the sectional,” third-year coach Tony Stesiak said. “This is a team – again, good health and all other things considered – but we like to think competing for championships is still what we want to do. Whatever regular season record that gets us at, those are the things we want to do.”

Kroft is in her third year as a starter. Her father Kole was Stesiak’s predecessor as coach.

“I don’t know that there’s a player that’s made the biggest moves between a freshman and going into her junior year as maybe she has,” Stesiak said. “It was maybe a tough start because her dad was the coach and now her dad’s not the coach coming into her freshman year. And here comes this guy from the outside, and that was a hard transition. And to be a freshman point guard on a team that’s going through a rebuild, when you’re the best player and early on people realize that, so you’re trying to handle the ball and you’re trying to be the leading scorer, she’s an outstanding defender, (she’s) trying to get people involved in the offense, all the things that were thrown at her. … And so that was a lot.

“And I thought last year, she took those challenges and those struggles and turned those into strengths a little bit. She’s an all-around guard. She can score, she can drive, rebounds, defends. One of the toughest competitors I’ve ever coached. Winning, regardless of how it happens, is hugely important to her.”

As for Iverson, Stesiak described her development as “tremendous.”

“She just has sort of a relentless drive to get better,” Stesiak said. “Never satisfied. And takes coaching and wants coaching. Always looking for an edge or something. How can I do this better? Help me do this. She understands. She’s had a good start to her career. She’s halfway through, but again, there’s a lot more there, and she wants to get there. Developing those post moves, great work ethic, is not afraid of contact. Those are the things you need to be a strong post player. I hope to be balanced in terms of inside-outside this year, and she’s obviously a big part of what we want to do because she’s either going to get the ball, or she’s going to draw a double or triple-team that’s going to open up somebody else. So her past will be an asset because she’s got the confidence. It will also draw the other teams’ attention more, and she’ll still work hard to get the ball, and we’ll still try to get her the ball, but that will also open up opportunities for other people. So she’ll be able to affect the game whether she’s got the ball in her hands or not, and that’s another sign of a great player.”

Sophomore Sadie Popejoy averaged 7 ppg last year, and her 35 3-pointers ranked second on the team behind Kroft’s 41.

“Her willingness to take the big outside shot and look for that was a huge asset on last year’s team,” Stesiak said. “The next step in her development is… handle the ball. Run the point a little bit. I’d like to think when her and Kroft are on the floor at the same time gives us combo guards, and maybe whoever gets the ball out on the break, we’re going to take and run with it there; we don’t necessarily have to force it to one or the other. I think that might help our transition offense a little bit provided we defend and rebound well.

“But then her ability to put the ball on the floor… she’s got a good pullup game, got a good drive game. She’s just got to get better at that. It’s there, but the way teams played her, especially early on, the outside shots were there, and she took advantage of it. Now teams know about it, so as I said, the offseason was about developing the counters.”

The three seniors on the roster are Cyaira Wolford, Mershai Loehmer and Kaelyn O’Connor. Stesiak described all three as “great people” and “high-character people.”

“We’re going to need all three obviously with what our numbers situations are,” Stesiak said. “And they’ve all done different things. Kaelyn O’Connor and Cyaira Wolford are both post presence players for us. Strong defensively, they give us some size. K.K. (O’Connor) has excellent knowledge of the game and really understands what we’re trying to do offensively and defensively. That’s kind of a strength in rebounding and defense, and the second post alongside Iverson will be big, and her and Wolford will kind of share that role. They’ll probably rotate – the three of those probably for two spots – and give us a nice post rotation.”

Loehmer will provide positional versatility.

“Shai Loehmer, she was hurt and missed with an ACL a big chunk of her sophomore year. Came back last year and was in the process of a position change. Growing up, she was more of a guard, but last year, we were working on developing her into a post player looking at this year and the opportunities that might be there. And that’s still something we want, but with the numbers situation that we have, she’s sort of the one combo player that will play both the guard and the forward spot. And so that versatility will be big for us.”

The two sophomores are Popejoy and guard Maggie Keller. Keller did not play last year but played in middle school, according to Stesiak.

“We’re glad to have her back,” Stesiak said. “She fits in really well, and we’re going to need her to be in that guard rotation with Kroft, Popejoy and Loehmer. … She’ll be instrumental in being in that rotation.”

Assistant coach Stephanie Smith retired from coaching, and Morgan (Ruff) Walker departed from last year’s coaching staff, and Keaton Stesiak and Ali Kiser, both of whom are 2016 Rochester grads who played for Stesiak, have been hired to replace them. Meanwhile, Jake Ruff returns to the staff.

“It’s a luxury to have, obviously, your daughter coach with you,” Tony Stesiak said. “That’s sort of a bucket list coaching moment that I’ve always hoped might happen but never took for granted that it would, and as things worked out with her job being employed here and having that opportunity is great. And having Ali, a former player, same thing. Those two, when you get former players, that’s such an advantage to have. Because these kids, the ones that have been around for three years, know the Stesiak-isms quite well, but it still helps to have a former player to be able to translate and go through and explain, and those two have been at the highest of highs – a step away from a state championship – to injuries curtailing their senior years. There’s probably nothing those two have been through that our girls can’t take advantage from. And they know the game, and it’s important to them. And they’re really good working with players.”

Another junior on the roster is Elizabeth DeLaCruz Garcia.

Stesiak said junior Corinne Ulerick will miss the season due to softball-related shoulder surgery.

Winamac girls basketball schedule

Nov. 5 – vs. Frontier, 7 p.m.

Nov. 7 – at Westville, 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 12 – vs. North Newton, 7 p.m.

Nov. 16 – at Caston, 7 p.m.

Nov. 19 – at Culver, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 21 – at North White, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 23 – vs. Manchester, 6 p.m.

Nov. 30 – vs. Rochester, 6:30 p.m.

Dec. 3 – at West Central, 7:30 p.m.