By Chris Parker
Hollister girls basketball has a new head coach in Joshua Loveland this season. Loveland spent the past decade as the Sparta girls head coach.
He inherits a Hollister program coming off a 4-22 season looking for its first winning season since 2020-21.
“We have to value the basketball and be more efficient on offense,” Loveland said. “We need a couple of players to step up and be willing to fill a role both offensively and defensively. We are going to be pretty athletic, so we need to pick up our pace and exploit our speed and athleticism, especially defensively.”
Kayla Hamilton is the lone returning all-conference player. She was named honorable mention all-conference as a freshman.
“Kayla Hamilton was the leading scorer from last year’s team,” Loveland said. “She can shoot it and has gotten better off the dribble.”
Junior Alyssa Danielson will have an expanded role this season.
“Alyssa Danielson gained valuable playing time last year at the varsity level, and we will ask her to contribute more on offense,” Loveland said. “She is one of the better defenders back from last year’s team.”
Sophomore Emree Hasler will be looked to for production in the post.
“Emree Hasler could be a strong presence for us around the basket both defensively and offensively,” Loveland said.
Sophomore Kaylee Kramek will run the offense.
“Kaylee Kramek is quick and athletic and handles the ball pretty well,” Loveland said. “We hope that she can help set the pace and run the offense. She had a good summer and could be a great defender.”
Tessa Golightly, sophomore, brings athleticism to the court.
“Tessa Golightly is really athletic, and we really expect her to mature in her game a little bit and make an impact for us both offensively and defensively,” Loveland said.
Maddelynn Bettlach is another sophomore who brings versatility.
“Maddelynn Bettlach can play inside and out,” Loveland said. “She is really strong and can hit shots.”
Sophomore Alivia Acceta has shown off-season improvement.
“Alivia Acceta had a good summer,” Loveland said. “She is pretty good off the dribble and can also hit from deep.”
Senior Emelyn Crisler and sophomore Lynzie Carter are newcomers to watch.
Loveland on Crisler: “Emelyn Crisler is a senior, but she didn’t play last year. She came out this summer and did a lot of really good things. She is tall, but not a true post player. She could be a hard matchup for a lot of teams as she can run the floor and stretch the defense with her outside shot.”
Loveland on Carter: “She is really athletic and just has a knack for finding the basketball.”
Loveland will look to build the identity of the team around speed and athleticism.
“Our athleticism and speed will be our best qualities; we will have to build our style of play to exploit our speed and athleticism,” Loveland said. “We are young with the players that we return. We have a big group of sophomores, so the competition for varsity spots could really raise the game of some of our athletes.”
Hollister opens the season on Nov. 21 at home against Miller.
“We want to compete every single night no matter who our opponent is,” Loveland said. “We are in a tough conference with Strafford, Fair Grove, Clever, Catholic. In conference play, there is never a night off. We want to compete every single night no matter who we are playing. If we make defense important and buy into being great defensively, I have no doubt the wins will come.”
