By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Chapman girls basketball team has already exceeded expectations following a dismal 1-17 campaign in 2020-21.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Michael Wahlmeier, the team has seen wins, and with those wins, a whole new confidence in the team.
“The expectations they have for themselves have increased,” Wahlmeier said. “They’ve gone from hoping they are just competitive to knowing they can win each and every game.”
The season started in rocky waters for the Irish, who began the 2021 portion of their campaign 1-4, but quickly righted the ship, winning their next four in a row.
While things have taken a bit of a dip since then, Chapman has kept it close with a number of quality opponents, and is just a few steps away from winning these close games.
“We have to clean up the turnovers,” Wahlmeier said. “We lost two games in our mid-season tournament by two points each and we can look at crucial turnovers down the stretch that affected the outcome.”
Maya Kirkpatrick and Shannon Anderson have emerged as the stars of the Chapman offense, developing on-court chemistry that has given opponents fits at times this season.
“Shannon struggled to score early but has worked hard to become a true offensive threat,” he said. “Maya has been a true leader on the team. She leads us in assists and I’m amazed at her knowledge of the game.”
As the Irish continue to narrow the gap between contending and winning, their point differential has narrowed as well. Going into the final six games of the season the team that was outscored by 417 points last season has been outscored by just 12.
“Learning how to win is hard,” Wahlmeier said. “We’re knocking on the door but we know that no one is just going to hand it to us.”
The road to the finish line will be a brutal one for Chapman as matchups with #8 SES, #6 Rock Creek (4A), and #4 Wamego (4A) still loom on the schedule.
While these games will not favor the Irish, they do present an opportunity to grow and to measure where the team is ahead of sub-state.
“At this point, we just want to be competitive,” he said. “I love that they are believing in themselves and coming together as a team.”
Chapman will be back in action on Friday night when they travel to Gypsum to take on the 11-3 Lady Trojans.
For more on both Fighting Irish basketball teams in 2022 stay tuned to the Salina Post.