By Chris Parker
Galena girls basketball will have a young team coming off a 13-13 season.
“Our weakness will be our age to start the season,” Galena head coach Kenna Greenway said. “We have some experience returning, but we have a good core group that will be young and will take a while to get adjusted to the speed and physicality of the game.”
Junior guard Jaiona Bailey will be the team’s key leader. She averaged 10.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game last season.
“Jaiona has taken on big roles while being an underclassman, and we will expect her to carry an even bigger load this year,” Greenway said. “She will be a point guard as well as one of our biggest scoring threats. She shoots at an extremely high percentage from three and has a high basketball IQ to get the ball to others in good positions. She works hard and competes defensively even when she is outsized. I look for her to have a breakout season.”
The freshman trio of Marlee Hemmerling (guard), Addison Williams (guard) and Katie Doucey (forward) will all look to make immediate varsity impacts.
Greenway on Hemmerling: “Marlee is a tall guard that can come in and help in the point guard and shooting guard positions. She fits right into our system wanting to get up and down the floor. She should be competing for good varsity minutes.”
Greenway on Williams: “Addi is a quick guard that also likes to get out and run and can be pesky on defense. She helped create a lot of turnovers at the junior high level, and we will look for her to continue that in high school while developing her offensive skill set. She will also be competing for good varsity minutes.”
Greenway on Doucey: “Katie is long and athletic and shows potential to be able to stretch the floor with her shooting ability. She will be competing with the other freshmen for varsity playing time.”
The young squad will look to improve as the players get more varsity reps.
“We first want to improve and learn through every game with so many young players moving up and continually get better as the season goes,” Greenway said. “Our win total last year was .500 for the first time in quite a few years and we would like to get over that mark. Our big goal this season is to be ready to compete for a district title when February rolls around.”
Galena opens the regular season on Nov. 21 at Billings.
“I’ve got a group of kids that got a taste of how fun it can be to be competitive and win games last year, and I believe that attitude has carried over and there is a desire to get better now,” Greenway said. “I’m excited to show up every day and be around a group that is excited to put in the work.”
