Sports

The ’08-’09 basketball season at LHS was centered on the undefeated boys’ basketball team. While the boys were striving for perfection, the Lady Pats were rebuilding diligently under the new head coach Lyle Pearson. In the first season under the new coach, they managed a winning record (12-11).

After losing five seniors to graduation, including two seniors, the girls’ team is ready to build upon what worked last season and change what didn’t.

"Coming in with a new coach and a new team gave us the jitters at first but as the season went on we got use to each other and became a team. That’s how we played so well together at the end of the [last] season," senior forward Beckah Herther said. "This year we are building off of that. We are close and that’s what we need to be."

The team returns six varsity players, including leading scorer forward Elise Maresh, assist leader guard Caiti Slattery and defensive standout Carley Chambers. Filling the voids left by graduation are guards junior Joey Bosch and freshman Darby Hugunin, Herther and center junior Chandler Esslinger who is returning after experiencing a season-ending injury early last year. Hugunin is a standout who plays well beyond her years. In the first inner-city game of the season against Roosevelt, Hugunin had 19 of the Lady Pats’ 35 total points.

Despite a lack of height, the girls’ squad is looking to have a strong season.

"We are a well rounded team. On any given night I can see any of our top seven players stepping up and making the difference in the game," Slattery said. "Regardless of who is stepping up and having the big night, every night we look to outwork the other team.

Coach Pearson, who replaced Shawn Bergan as head coach last season, is also looking forward to this season after working out the initial jitters of coaching the girls. Pearson was the head coach of the LHS boys’ basketball team for 18 years.

"I believe there is good reason for optimism this year. We have several girls returning from last year with a lot of experience on the team," Pearson said. "All of them are hardworking individuals that keep striving to improve."

With reason for optimism, the Lady Pats are striving to reach the state tournament.

"I was one-year-old the last time the Lincoln girls’ team qualified for the state tournament," Slattery said. "We all want to be the team that gets there, but we also understand that to do so we will have to work hard day in and day out."

The girls’ team has jumped out to a 3-0 start. They have three more games before Holiday Break, two of which are against fellow South Dakota Sports Writer Association ranked teams.

"Our goal is to keep the pressure on at all times this year," Pearson said. "The girls and I have set our goals for this season and we are looking forward to working our hardest to achieve them."

Cheerleaders have always served as the crowd motivators at home games for LHS. Always staying positive and encouraging the team are their number one priorities. However, there is much more to their team than just peppy cheers. The cheerleading team also goes through an intense competitive season. A sanctioned sport for the last two years, cheerleading has begun to gain more recognition. Unfortunately, this LHS cheerleading season was marked with injuries and sickness.

"This year we had 20 girls on the team," coach Katie Pabst said. "However, because of all the injuries and sicknesses, we had a constantly changing routine to compensate for those losses. We never performed the same routine at each of our seven competitions ."

Despite these misfortunes, coach Pabst feels as though the team improved greatly over the season and believes that the team will continue to grow over the following seasons.

The LHS dance squad has often flown under the radar. However, that does not mean they haven’t had their fair share of success and achievement. Under the new coach Jenna Simpson, the girls’ varsity dance team, also known as The Patriettes, had high hopes to win state and perform for the state football championship. Despite finishing in fifth place at state, the team found themselves not only satisfied with their results but also closer as a team.

Now that the competitive season is over, several girls are looking forward to cheerleading while many others are anticipating the performance dance season in the winter.

"I really enjoyed the competitive dance season this year. It was a great season and I felt supported by the whole school every step of the way. Since SD is new to me, there were a few things I wasn’t quite used to. But, I’m still learning and am really excited to improve for next season," Simpson said.

The LHS girls’ volleyball team was plagued by sharp ups and downs, resulting in a 9-15 final record. The dominant goal for the team was winning the district games to qualify for the state tournament. The Pats played two solid district games, defeating Yankton and Washington to become district champions.

"Our hard work ended up paying off," setter Kersten Bork said. "It was an amazing feeling going to the tournament."

Unfortunately, the Lady Pats’ end of season magic didn’t carry into the post season. They a lost all three state tournament games. The team closed the season with a disappointing loss to Huron, finishing eighth in the state tournament.

While their state tournament record was disappointing, they had sporadic moments of excellent play. They took an early two games to zero lead against Roosevelt in the first game. With only five points left to advance to the next round, the Rough Riders came back to win the third game. From there, RHS outlasted the Pats, taking the next two games. They knocked LHS out of the winners bracket with a 2-3 win.

"Our loss to Roosevelt was pretty devastating. It took a lot out of our team physically and emotionally. We really thought we were going to win that game," middle-hitter Becca Jarratt, said.

After that devastating loss, the wind was taken out of the Lady Pats’ sails. The team tried their best to salvage a top 3 finish, but lost first to Watertown (0-3), and then to Huron (2-3).

The season didn’t end the way the team wanted, but Bork believes the team did the best they could.

"We all worked hard, day in and day out," Bork said. "Our season had a lot of ups and downs but I personally had no regrets."

Becca Jarratt agrees that the year was productive.

"The season went better than anyone expected. Going into the year as a ‘young team’ was difficult, but we proved we could play with everyone else. We always played to the best of our ability," Jarratt said. "There is not much more you can ask for."