Maidens get ready for basketball season

By John Heglie

Special for the Leader

After an ominous opening last season with a pair of losses at the NWA/SWA Tip-Off Tournament, the Ronan Maidens went on to reel off 21 straight along the way to the 6B regular season conference crown, District 6B championship and Western B Divisional championship. At the State B tournament, St. Labre and Forsyth would grind the Ronan win streak to a halt, although the Maidens came very close to winning at game at State after a very long drought. The team averaged 56 points per game, racking up 1400 points to post a 21-4 overall record.

Adaptations to the roster

Last year’s rendition of the Maidens graduated multi-sport all-conference (VB 2nd-tm, SB 2nd-tm) guard Jordyn Clairmont, post Ashley Peterson and wing/post Siliye Pete. This trio contributed close to two hundred points as well as rebounds along with doling out more than five dozen assists.

Roster returnees

Spearheading the lion’s share of Maiden scoring are a returning trio of 300 plus scorers last season that collaborated on just under 1200 points.

The most prolific among these is volleyball all-state, twice all-conference (1st-tm); track twice divisional champion, all-state (2016: tj 2nd) multi-event all-conference (2016: lj 1st, tj 1st, shot 2nd, 4x100 6th / 2015: 4x100 4th, lj 2nd, tj 2nd, shot 5th / 2014: 4x400 5th, lj 2nd, tj 3rd) and basketball twice all-state senior 5-8 wing/post Lee Camel, who notched north of 400 points last season, reeled in eleven dozen boards as well as dishing out more than a half century worth of assists.

Matching when not exceeding that scoring proclivity in ten games last season that included a quartet of double-doubles along with a quintet scored in the 20s is volleyball all-conference (1st-tm) as well as basketball thrice all-conference (1st-tm, 6B 2nd-tm, 14C 1st-tm) senior cousin 5-10 post Alicia Camel, whose soft touch around the rim notched 22 double digit scoring outings as well as pulled down more than 13 dozen boards. Both Camels are slated to crest the career scoring millennial plateau (1000+) at some juncture prior to the end of the regular schedule. Based upon game scoring averages last season, Lee is anticipated to surpass that threshold about a third of the way through the schedule, while Alicia is anticipated to do so about two thirds along the way.

Contributing further calamity for defenders along with the conundrum caused by contemplating how to contain Camel cousins is track all-conference (2015: 4x100 4th, pv 7th) and basketball all-conference (1st-tm) junior 5-4 wing Micalann McCrea, who has already surpassed the varsity career 500 scoring theshold, scoring in the mid 300s last season while leading her team in rebounding with 167 boards. McCrea was a multi-time winner of Punt, Pass & Kick competitions at area, state as well as regional levels for her age group prior to high school, which may partially explain her aptitude for hitting targets with accuracy.

Opponents might be inclined to think an exploitable chink in Maiden armor might be found in the graduation of their starting guard whose role included spoon that stirred the pot of Ronan’s offense. But it seems unlikely that this area is liable to be vulnerable given that they will be loaded with depth in the backcourt. Returning is multiple game starting sophomore 5-5 wing/point Louetta Conko-Camel, who would have had a much more productive stat line last season but for a hand injury that sidelined her superb ball handling skills package. Further infusing the backcourt are junior 5-2 wing/point Gabby Wirz, an integral component to the success of the Maiden softball squad on account of her fine motor coordination along with ball delivery accuracy that are skills readily transferable to hooping it up on the hardwood. Others who saw court time last season include junior 5-4 wing/posts Jaelynn Askan along with Gabby Houle and sophomore 5-3 wing Tiana Ulutoa. Junior 5-9 post Kiana Finley returns to the hardwood to make up for lost time after sitting out last season on account of a knee injury. Sophomore 5-3 wing/point Hannah Moss will also lend her versatile capabilities to reprising the run that the Maidens experienced last season. The half dozen returnees collaborated to contribute over a century worth of points along with five dozen rebounds, a laudable asset emerging from bench productivity.

Prognosis for the pending season

Head coach Ron Hanson enters his second season at the helm, aided by assistant coaches Dallas Cordier along with Steve Woll and volunteer assistant Robert McCrea. The collective experience of this quartet intend to lend further lift to the wings of the Flying R as they take flight into the horizons of a new season. The Maidens return over 80% of their point productivity from last year, a formidable factor which bodes well for their capability to contend for the 6B conference crown once again. An additional season of seasoning accrued by supplemental reserves is anticipated to pick up much of the slack created by graduations, serving notice on foes that they are liable to have their hands full much like they did last season when they wrangled with Ronan.

Teams which gave the Maidens the greater difficulty last season included former Class A members Libby along with Anaconda and perennial contender Loyola as well as Deer Lodge. Libby was the only team to hand the Maidens a loss during the regular season (47-51), but an injury to their deadliest sharpshooter curtailed their effectiveness in subsequent encounters (53-50, 61-44). It is anticipated that this quartet will continue to pose the greater threat to Ronan reprising their perch among the hierarchy of Western B contenders, although one can never rule out reconfigurations by others who improve by leaps and bounds.

Ronan opens their season on the road against Eureka on Saturday, December 3, then participate in the Three Forks Tournament the weekend of December 9-10, where they will tangle with Fairfield and Big Timber.