Lady Vikings eye return to postseason prominence
Last season, the Charlo Lady Vikings had a season for the ages that included their first trip to State in more than a decade.
Veteran head coach Bret Thompson enters his 34th season at the helm with one state title in 2003, four divisional crowns and 15 district trophies with an eye toward adding to the Lady Viking treasure chest.
Charlo graduated a trio of seasoned starters in leading scorer three-time all-state Kaitlin Cox, all-conference (hm) Allie Delaney along with Teaira Truman, sidelined manager Tyrah Hammond and departed teammate Adriana Johnson.
The quintet collectively contributed over the course of their prep careers more than 1,500 points, more than 1,100 rebounds, more than 250 assists and over 400 steals.
Those figures betray that departure vacancies have left some sizeable sneakers to fill.
But returnees accounted for almost 60% of offensive punch, the remaining slack capable of being shouldered by expanded roles and newcomers.
Most prominent among returnees are a pair of junior all-conference (2nd-tm) contributors in Liev Smith and Carlee Fryberger, who collectively accounted for more than 200 points each and more than 100 rebounds apiece.
Senior 5-foot-7-inch Destiny Manuel almost accounted for just as much in both scoring as well as boards. The trio together collaborated on over 600 points and almost 400 boards, situating Charlo in decent shape if nothing else was among stock in the cupboard.
Added to this mix will be senior 5-foot-11-inch post Kira McPhail, who is coming off a volleyball season in which she nearly 100 blocks. McPhail’s presence will force opposing offenses to work that much harder.
Coach Thompson modus operandi is renowned for an emphasis upon stingy defense that doesn’t surrender much to the opposition.
A handful of reserves benefitted from a strong dose of postseason experience. Couple their contributions with an influx of newcomers and Charlo should be in the mix over the course of the season. The goal will be stir the mixture along as the schedule progresses so they gel at just the right time on the cusp of postseason play.
Charlo will compete in the Western C Tip-Off the weekend of Dec. 6-7. Further details were unavailable at presstime.
14C Charlo Lady Vikings (2018-19: 11-1, 23-3) 1,260pts
conference runnerup, Dist14C: 1st 3-0, Western C: 1st 3-0, State C: dnp 0-2
(Wtr2018-17: 17-7, 1012pts)
mascot: Lady Vikings
Coach: Bret Thompson, 34th yr (581-205)
sum GBB+TR titles = 60dist, 13div, 5state
girls basketball titles = 15dist, 4div, 1state
BTR titles = 25dist (17 in row), 8div, 4state
GTR titles = 20dist, 2div
GBB 2003 State C champions
departures:
Kaitlin Cox, career high 31
(GBB 2x a-s, 2x a-c 1st-tm; VB 2x a-s, 4x a-c: 1st-tm 2018-15, hm 2015; TF 2019 a-s: tj 2nd, 4x100 3rd; 2019 4x a-c: Western C champion lj 1st, tj 2nd, 4x100 2nd, pv t5th; 2018: 4x100 3rd, 4x400 4th, TF tj 5th, 100h 6th
(KC2019-18: 256p,112r,32a,48s,7b, 3FG:43)
(KC2018-17: 300p,125r,26a,54s,3b, 3FG:38, FT78-119)
Allie Delaney (GBB a-c hm; VB 3x a-c: 2nd-tm 2017, hm 2018, hm 2016; TF 2019 a-s: 4x100 3rd, 4x400 3rd, 300h 5th, a-d: 300h 3rd, 100h 4th, 4x100 2nd, 4x400 2nd; 2018 a-s: 4x400 4th, a-c 300h 4th, 200 3rd; 2017 a-s: 300h 2nd, a-c 100h 5th, 4x100 3rd, 4x400 2nd; 2016 a-s 4x400 5th, a-c 4x100 5th),
(AD2019-18: 110p,147r,38a,50s,2b),
(AD2018-17: 76p,109r,36a,50s,1b)
Teaira Truman (VB a-c 2nd-tm)
(TT2019-18: 138p,112r,27a,47s,4b),
(TT2018-17: 72p,58r,24a,24s)
sr. 5-5 Bella Hawk
(VB a-s, 2x a-c: 1st-tm 2019, hm 2017)
(BH2019-17: 56p,52r,7a,17s,4b)
returnees:
jr. 5-8 Liev Smith,
(GBB a-c 2nd-tm)
(LS2019-18: 229p,127r,36a,58s,11b),
(LS2018-17: 101p,129r,23a,26s,4b)
jr. 5-7 Carlee Fryberger
(GBB a-c 2nd-tm; VB a-s 2019; TF 2019 2x state champion - 5x a-s: 100 1st, 200 3rd, 100h 1st, 4x100 3rd, 4x400 3rd; 2019 3x Western C champion - 5x a-d: 100 1st, 200 1st, 100h 1st, 4x100 2nd, 4x400 2nd; 2018 4x a-s: 100h 2nd, 4x100 3rd, tj 3rd, 100 5th; 2018 a-d: 100 3rd, 200 3rd, 100h 4th, 4x100 2nd, tj 3rd);
(CF2019-18: 202p,113r,29a,84s,9b)
(CF2018-17: 84p,69r,17a,54s,3b)
sr. 5-7 Destiny Manuel
(TF 2019 a-c: pv 4th; 2018 2x a-s: 4x100 3rd, 4x400 4th; 2018 a-c: 4x100 2nd)
(DM2019-18: 182p,148r,27a,55s,5b)
(DM2018-17: 52p,84r,9a,50s,1b).
sr 5-11 post Kira McPhail
(VB a-c 2nd tm 2019; TF 2018 a-s: 4x400 4th; 2018 a-c: hj 4th)
(KM2019-18: 49p,34r,1a,5s,7b),
schedule:
Class C Tip-Off
Fr06Dec19 vs. tbd
Sa07Dec19 vs. tbd