By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After a disappointing 3-18 season, the Abilene girl’s basketball team will look to get back on track in 2022-23, with new leadership and a renewed vision.
The Cowgirls will be under the direction of first-year head coach Shawn Hermann, who will take the reigns from Mike Liby this year.
While Abilene graduated four seniors over the offseason, the Cowgirls return a solid group with good size for the 22-23 campaign, with a starting lineup that should look like this when the season begins.
G- Sammy Stout
F- Eden Bathurst
F- Renatta Heintz
F- Amara Johnson
F- Claira Dannefer
The Cowgirls will also look to Hannah Walter, Blair Adams, Zoey Debenham, and Adin Bruna for big minutes off the bench throughout the year.
Before the year tips off, we had a chance to catch up with the new skipper in Abilene to get his thoughts on his Cowgirls ahead of his first season at the helm.
Q: What is your vision for the culture of girls’ basketball at Abilene?
A: That after our girls come through our program, they learn to be leaders on the court and in life. On the court, we want to play every minute as hard as we can and that win or lose, teams will remember playing us. When they are done playing, they will remember being a Cowgirl for the rest of their life.
Q: How excited is everyone to get back on the floor and back to playing real games after a long offseason?
A: We have a group of hard-working girls who have been battling every day in practice. They are ready to get the season started and put their hard work to the test.
Q: Coming into the year what would you say is the biggest strength of this team?
A: We have some size the year so our post-play will be instrumental to our success.
Q: What are the biggest question marks about this team as we head into the first few weeks?
A: Our depth and experience. We are still a young team and only have two girls who saw significant time on the varsity court last year.
Q: What are the goals and expectations of this team for this 2022-23 campaign?
A: I expect this group to be more aggressive and competitive in every game. We have to do all the little things right, stay disciplined and patient on both ends of the floor, and not turn the ball over. We are building a foundation for the future of Cowgirl basketball.
Abilene will kick off its 2022-23 campaign on Friday, December 2nd when the Cowgirls travel to Smoky Vally for a clash with the Vikings.
For continuing coverage of Abilene girls’ basketball all season long, stay tuned to the Salina Post.