A new head coach who’s still getting familiar with league opponents and crop of young talent should make this season an interesting one for Aberdeen girls basketball.
The Bobcats went 6-14 overall and 4-8 in league play last season with a team that featured a mix of youth and experience.
Aberdeen will get some experience back with the return of seniors Reagan Glanz and Angel Jones to anchor the starting five, but first-year head coach John Yonich is using the last practices before the start of the season today to figure out who will play where.
Aberdeen opens the season at home against Forks tonight, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for the players and their coaching staff to get ready for the new season.
In taking the time to get familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of his team, Yonich said his team is better than what they were given credit for.
“I’m honestly surprised. From what I was told and what I see, it’s two different teams,” he said. “I haven’t had a person quit, we had a record amount of girls come out and we got three full squads. The girls are enjoying it and that’s part of the sport. Right now, with the season coming, they’re excited.”
One aspect of the Aberdeen program that Yonich notes is the talent of his younger players.
Emma Krenz has been impressive heading into her junior season, but he is also looking forward to coaching Emmy Walsh, who made contributions as a freshman last year.
Yonich went on to say that he has a hard-working, upbeat group of players. The team’s positive attitude could be an advantage for a coaching staff that plans on installing a new offensive scheme and inspire a new level of confidence in a team that struggled last season.
Yonich isn’t too familiar with what his opponents will be doing, but he thinks there is an advantage in other team’s lack of familiarity with his team.
“I don’t know this league. A lot of guys have been in this league forever,” he said. “They know what offenses and defenses they want to run, but they don’t know what we run either. We’re going to go out and give it 110 percent, I can tell you that.”
The Bobcats had their struggles last season but no game went as poorly for Aberdeen as its 79-9 loss to Chehalis. The Bearcats have consistently been a powerhouse in the league but Yonich said there is no reason for his team to be intimidated by anyone on the schedule.
“That game is circled on our calendar,” he said. “No one should beat anyone by 70 and they won’t this year.”
Yonich said he believes fans and opponents can expect an elevated level of play with the amount of talent in the league.
“I don’t think we get a lot of respect. I think they respect us because we’re nice people, I don’t think they respect us as a basketball program,” he said. “I’ve heard so much about our top two teams. They’ve been finishing near the top in the state the last few years and what I like about that is that it brings the bar up.”
