A highly-touted sophomore class of girls basketball players at Gillett High School are going to have to learn on the fly this season.
The six sophomores on varsity, in which only one, Taylor Yonker, has played at the top level, will join junior and three-year varsity player Erin Balthazor, along with senior Maya Breed in competing with Peshtigo for a Marinette and Oconto Conference title.
“How fast can we grow up? The fact of the matter is that, yeah, they are talented,” Gillett head coach Justin Dahl said. “There is a lot of hype surrounding this crew, but you’ve got to live up to it, and how fast can you get there. We don’t have a lot of time to waste in getting to that point. Luckily, we had a great summer, so I like where we are at.”
The group was dominant in the junior varsity games, but Dahl is hoping the girls can continue their chemistry while learning at the varsity level.
“Last year, even though we pulled up Taylor Yonker from the team, they had a very successful JV season where we had multiple games where two of them were in 20 points at the same time. In the M&O Conference, that’s not really an assumed thing,” Dahl said.
The Tigers have a difficult non-conference schedule in front of themselves this season, a facet Dahl usually includes for his teams to get ready for conference play.
Balthazor went through the process as a freshman and knows how much the younger players can grow from such experiences.
“This first couple of games are probably going to be the most difficult games of the season,” Balthazor said. “As usual, they are non-conference, besides a couple of other teams we are a tad worried about this season. But it will be an eye-opener for them, these first couple of games since they are coming up from JV.
“I think it’s needed. They’ll see. Just like we did when we came up to varsity and played these first couple of games. It was tough, but we made it through.”
Dahl praised Breed for being a natural-born leader for the team. He added that Breed is an outspoken member of the team that the younger kids can look up to. She was not a starter last season and is looking to break into the starting lineup to help the Tigers.
Gillett, which has fallen in the regional final in each of the past two seasons, believes this could be the team that breaks through the barrier, with the growth of the sophomore class.
“I’ve already seen them grow so much this week. I think it’s going to come these first couple of games,” Breed said. “It’s just going to click. It’s about new experiences and learning the level of varsity. They’ve already improved so much this week, so I can only imagine what it’s going to be like the rest of the season.”
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