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WYNOT — Steve Wieseler is entering his 27th year as the head coach of the Lady Blue Devil girls basketball program.
He has led the Lady Blue Devils to eight state titles, and a handful of runner-up finishes, and so when he says he has a young team, lots of people around the state think, the girls in blue could be headed for a down year.
While it’s true the Lady Blue Devils lost a lot of girls from last year’s team, they have enough coming back to do what Wynot tries to do every season — get to Lincoln and compete for a State title.
“We have just one returning starter,” Wieseler said. “Everyone else will have to fit in and learn through the games we play, they understand what we do around here. Hopefully, by the end of the season, all of our players will be ready to go.”
Kenna Oligmueller is the lone returning starter and is a junior.
“We have a young team without much experience, however, we feel we can be competitive at the state level by the end of the year if we stay healthy,” Wieseler said. “We have to develop our depth and I hope that happens sooner than later.”
Senior, Eliza Lange returns after seeing some action last season and will be joined by four juniors, who should see a lot of court time this year.
Jaylin Geisen, Jordan Foxhoven, Haley Wieseler, Addison Sharpe and Bennet Steffen are the four juniors.
“We only have 12 girls out so they will get a lot of reps in practice,” the coach said. “Hopefully that will speed up the process and we’ll get better a little quicker.”
Wieseler thinks Crofton, Pender, Homer, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, Cedar Catholic and Archangels Catholic will be some of the top teams in the area.
Wynot will open the 2024-25 campaign at home against Bloomfield on Dec. 5 before hitting the road for a couple of games with Winside (Dec. 6) and Guardian Angels Central Catholic (Dec. 12).
Home dates with Osmond and Homer followed by a trip to Wausa will close out the pre-Christmas schedule.
