Coaches of the MLHS girls basketball teams summed up their seasons at the recent MLHS Winter Sports Awards Night, and also awarded end-of-season honors to their players. Those awards are listed at the end of the article.
Head Coach Mike Behnke summed up the varsity season: “The Lancer Girls Varsity finished the season with a record of 15-11 overall and 11-8 in conference. The year was highlighted by two big wins over Howards Grove, one in the regular season and one in the playoffs.”
“This season the girl’s theme was S.A.P. We talked about three things that this stood for and how we needed to utilize those attributes in order to have success this year. The first was that sap is a sticky substance and like sap, we as a team needed to stick together. Every year there were going to be highs and lows and that we needed to stick together as we went through all of those as a team. Second, was Sappy and using it in the context of emotions. We talked about how this year’s team was emotional and that as we went through these highs and lows that we were going to also have to deal with our emotions in those times, to be caring and handle them to ensure success on and off the court. We also talked about how being emotional was ok, but we needed to embrace it and turn it into a positive in our play each night. Third, we talked about it as an acronym for “Shut Up & Play.” We discussed how we at times liked to over-think things, that in certain situations in the past we played scared and it was because we were over-thinking things. When we as individuals felt that way we should take a step back and tell our inner selves to “shut up & play” and just play the game.”
“We tied our entire theme to Ephesians 4:31-32: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
“This year was a lot of fun and full of memories. These young Christian women have dedicated a lot to the program and will always be a part of the Lancer Family. For the younger players we look forward to what the future holds for you as you continue your high school years. For the Seniors, we thank you for all your time and dedication and we wish you God’s Blessings on your future endeavors and look forward to seeing you back as Alumni!! Thank you, all Parents, Fans and Lancer Nation, for your support of this wonderful group of young women!!”
Records set this season:
MonRaye Ermis: All Time Blocks Leader in School History – 174 blocks
Emma Miller: Single Season Charges Taken – 18
Emma Miller: Most Charges in a Career record – 32
(Note: We started in 2015 with keeping stats on Charges.)
Jenna Lischka: 29 points in a game – in the Top 5 All-time for single game scoring. (Still going through all-time records to find Jenna’s exact spot in the top 5.)
All-Conference awards are voted on by all the coaches within the Big East conference. Two Lancers received 2nd team All-Conference honors – senior MonRaye Ermis and junior Jenna Lischka.
Lischka was also awarded Offensive MVP, and senior Brooklyn Luebke was awarded Defensive MVP by Behnke for the second year in a row. Receiving the Lancer Award for Christian leadership was senior Emily Marohn.
Girls JV1 Season-ending comments from head coach Mike Behnke, “The girls JV1 team capped off a very successful season finishing 16-3. One of the main reasons for that success was on the defensive end, only allowing 27.8 points per game while averaging 45.6 ppg themselves. The team started off the season going 7-0 highlighted with a 66-2 win over Howards Grove. They continued that success midway thru the season with a 61-29 win over Ozaukee, and finished off the season with an exciting double OT win of 66-60 over Sheboygan Lutheran.”
Sophomore Bree Hansen was selected by the coaches to receive the girls JV1 Lancer Award.
Girls JV2 Head Coach Keturah Hochmuth gives us a summary of the girls JV team’s season: “Basketball has come to a close. JV2 grew tremendously as team. We started off the year looking nervous and playing timidly but ended the year with confidence and three outstanding games, and finished with a 6-5 record. These girls will be fun to watch as they grow throughout the years.”
At the Awards Night, freshman Selah Schulz was awarded the JV2 Lancer Award for her Christian attitude and leadership.