Wildcats looking to team mentality

Losing a stellar All-State athlete could be a crippling blow to many high school programs, but for the Columbus girls? basketball team, they are focused on spreading the production around.

The Wildcats said goodbye to Kelsey Pretz?s 19.4 points per game and 79 rebounds per game after last season, and the team knows finding one athlete to replace that kind of production will be difficult.

?I don?t know if you can,? Columbus head coach Kasey Keltner said. ?I?ve never won a varsity game without her on the floor. We?ve never had a girl be as dominant as she was. She got a lot of opportunities. Hopefully we can increase our shooting percentage this year. We just have to be in position and box out. It?s all going to be split between our players.?

One of those players figures to be senior Laura Mincks, who was an honorable mention selection to the All-Southeast Iowa Super Conference team last season. Mincks averaged 5.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season, and she said the team will be focused on getting stops this season.

?A part of our focus is defense,? Mincks said. ?We have to finish with a defensive stop and then get a score. Each year we set goals individually and as a team. That?s our goal, is to get stops. We have to step it up and finish.?

One of the challenges for the Wildcats in the 2015-16 season will be an inside presence, as the tallest listed player on the roster is 5-foot-7.

?I don?t think I have anybody who is 5-foot-8,? Keltner said. ?We have to pressure people in the full court and try to get some steals. That takes some pressure off of us offensively. If we can get layups instead of working through an offense, that would be great.?

Mincks is one of three returning starters from last season, joining fellow honorable mention All-Conference selection junior Bailey Stroud (7.4 points, 4 assists, 2 steals per game) and senior Kortney Orr (2.6 points, 2.8 rebounds per game).

The Wildcats also return junior guard Shania Boyd, who came off the bench last season and averaged 6.4 points and two steals per game.

With a smaller team on the court, and a guard corps that could score the ball well last season, the Wildcats are hoping that translates into a fun style of play.

?It?s exciting,? Mincks said. ?We get out and go, and it?s fun to be a part of that. It gets the crowd going, too, and it makes it fun.?

Being able to move the ball up and down the court effectively, and put pressure on opposing defenses is going to be one of the keys to the season, according to Keltner.

If the Wildcats are able to do that, they can translate their play into a fierce, attacking defense that should give opposing offenses headaches.

?We have to create some havoc,? Keltner said. ?We have to be solid, because we aren?t big enough to sit in 2-3 and say, ?come at us.? We are going to need to knock some 3-pointers down. Every night out will be so competitive in this conference, so we just need to go out and compete.?

After the fourth straight season of double-digit victories, including winning the second-most games in school history last season, the Wildcats are thinking they are on the map, and shouldn?t be overlooked in the conference race.

?I think that we are a team that shouldn?t be taken lightly,? Mincks said. ?We work hard, and go above and beyond. We just need to push it through the whole season.?

Columbus will travel to take on WACO in the season opener on Tuesday, Nov. 24.