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Highland girls basketball hosts jamboree
Washington, Cardinal scrimmages with Huskies head of 2025-26 season
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Highland girls basketball had its first opportunity to take the court ahead of a highly anticipated 2025-26 season. The Huskies hosted Washington and Cardinal for a jamboree Saturday morning.
The Comets, Demons and Huskies each scrimmaged each other twice in 20 minute games. No score was kept, but all three teams got some game-like action after the first week of practice.
Highland finished the 2024-25 season third place in the SEISC North. The Huskies are coming off of a 17-8 mark, including an 11-5 conference record and a pair of postseason wins. With a large group returning players, Highland is eager to go a step further.
“Sky’s the limit,” Huskies coach Jody Fink said. “We’re looking to be up near the top of the conference or win the conference, advance. We always want to do that. We were in the regional semifinals last year, disappointing loss. Hopefully we learn from that and are able to sit there and use that.”
Sophomore Kamryn Fink will lead the way for Highland. Fink averaged 16 points per game and earned Class 1A second team All-State honors from the Iowa Print Writers Association in 2024-25.
Fink wasn’t expecting to achieve the accolades she earned as a freshman, and hopes to build on a strong campaign. The sophomore said she worked on adding a midrange shot to her arsenal this offseason to become an even more dynamic scorer for the Huskies.
Including Fink, Highland has its top five scorers back from a year ago. The Huskies also ranked No. 2 in 1A in rebounding, averaging 43.4 boards per game last season. They’re hoping a continuation of that trend will help increase their tempo.
“I think we’re going to be a much faster paced team,” junior Hailey Brun said. “We have a lot of speed on our team and I think we’re going to use that to the best of our abilities.”
Brun was second on the team in scoring at 9.6 points per game. She also has a goal to break Highland’s school record for steals after racking up 106 last year, tied for the most in the SEISC North.
Emersyn Schultz was third on the team in scoring in 2024-25. One of three seniors this year, Schultz is confident that the Huskies have plenty of leadership and chemistry to make another postseason run despite having a relatively young group on paper.
“I’m really excited for this team,” Schultz said. “I think already this week I’ve seen a lot of team communication and how we get along with each other. I feel like we’re all just happy with each other and there’s a really good vibe going around.”
Washington and Cardinal also enjoyed the opportunity for some simulated game action before the start of the season. The Comets and Demons will both be led by first-year head coaches in 2025-26.
Colin Mulford took over the Washington program from Shannon Rugg. The Demons went 6-16, including a 4-6 record in the Southeast Conference.
Mulford is taking things one game at a time. He praised assistants Brandon Long and Brynna Vittetoe for helping him navigate his first week in charge. Mulford also liked the energy he saw from his team in Saturday’s scrimmages.
“Effort is always there,” Mulford said. “They play super hard. It’s awesome to see. We don’t have to coach effort, and that makes a huge difference when you don’t have to coach effort, and they’re just always giving their best.”
Cardinal will be led by Nate Bissell in 2025-26. The Comets went 0-23 last year under Dustin LaRue.
Bissell appreciated the opportunity to put players in spots they haven’t played yet during the scrimmage games. He praised freshman Brayleigh Sparks for her effort and said the teams depth - Cardinal has 16 players on its roster - will help the team improve in 2025-26.
“We want to start with one win and go from there,” Bissell said. “We’re hoping to finish .500 if we can and aim for the middle of the pack in our conference.”
Highland will start its season with the 4 Corners Shootout at Lone Tree High School. The Huskies first matchup is against Keota on Friday.
Washington will begin the regular season at Muscatine on Nov. 25. Cardinal tips off its campaign against Van Buren County on Dec. 1.
