New Glarus girls basketball coach Braden Rindy had a tough act to follow. Much like when a karaoke rookie follows the weekly regular, nobody knew what to expect.
Rindy had all the wrong cards dealt to him and his Lady Glarner Knights had every reason to fail after tearing through the Capitol South Conference undefeated in their inaugural season last year.
They lost their main scoring option, Bri Hauge, to graduation. The girls - particularly the older players - adored former coach Gary Beutler. And to top it all off, for the first few weeks, not one of the 14 girls took one step forward off the baseline to grab the leadership reins left sitting on the hardwood.
Now the 4-1 Glarner Knights (8-3 overall) have a conference-defining rematch tonight with Wisconsin Heights at home and the fresh-faced Rindy - with a little help from seniors Shanna Karls and Dani Pickett - has the ship sailing back toward the conference championship shore.
New Glarus is a far cry from the team that looked completely lost in its season-opening hammering at the hands of Pecatonica, 65-38, on Nov. 26.
"I don't think they were real confident or sure who was really going to step up and be the leader this year. So that's how we kind of played the first couple of games. Scared and hesitant," said Rindy, a protégé of Monroe's Pat Murphy.
Those adjectives didn't sit well with the scoring duo of Karls and Pickett, who decided enough was enough and brought New Glarus back to last season's form. Karls averages 11.8 points per game and continually impresses Rindy with her dedication toward getting a victory.
"She's impressed me the most of anyone. She's an insanely hard worker," Rindy said. "She does whatever is needed on the floor to win because she wants to win that bad. Sometimes that's not scoring, sometimes that is scoring."
When the Knights' season definitively turned on a dime in the second half of a 46-40 victory over rival Belleville on Jan. 8, Karls was in the thick of the rally, literally pounding the floor, not to be denied victory.
Once Pickett got her shooting stroke down to a science, she forced opposing defenses to play her for the 3-point shot and has killed great squads like Black Hawk and Marshall. Her accuracy from beyond the arc has her directly behind Karls in the points department at 11.3 per contest.
"If she has time to get off her shot she's going to make it," Rindy said.
Throw in the always-feisty Kendra Mussehl, a 6-0 sophomore post who can score with both hands in Hannah Rotar and a formidable host of others, and the Glarner Knights are sitting comfortably and poised to ward off threats to what's still their throne.
Rindy definitely paid attention during the leader of the Cheesemakers' speeches about staying hungry and humble while exciting action and rewards start coming the team's way.
"It's great that we're in the driver's seat, but just don't be happy with anything," Rindy said. "Play every game like we have to win it."
Now that the Ws are piling up and Rindy has the ears of his talented - and young, to boot - players, he can breathe a little easier and focus on keeping the conference trophies pilling up in New Glarus.
"I'm excited to be where I'm at," Rindy said. "Hopefully the girls will be just as excited and really into it through all the age levels. That would be great to be the team to beat for years to come."
The puzzle pieces have changed dramatically, but with Rindy at the helm the final picture looks to be the same.
- John McNally is a sports writer with The Monroe Times.
He can be reached at jmcnally@themonroetimes.com
Rindy had all the wrong cards dealt to him and his Lady Glarner Knights had every reason to fail after tearing through the Capitol South Conference undefeated in their inaugural season last year.
They lost their main scoring option, Bri Hauge, to graduation. The girls - particularly the older players - adored former coach Gary Beutler. And to top it all off, for the first few weeks, not one of the 14 girls took one step forward off the baseline to grab the leadership reins left sitting on the hardwood.
Now the 4-1 Glarner Knights (8-3 overall) have a conference-defining rematch tonight with Wisconsin Heights at home and the fresh-faced Rindy - with a little help from seniors Shanna Karls and Dani Pickett - has the ship sailing back toward the conference championship shore.
New Glarus is a far cry from the team that looked completely lost in its season-opening hammering at the hands of Pecatonica, 65-38, on Nov. 26.
"I don't think they were real confident or sure who was really going to step up and be the leader this year. So that's how we kind of played the first couple of games. Scared and hesitant," said Rindy, a protégé of Monroe's Pat Murphy.
Those adjectives didn't sit well with the scoring duo of Karls and Pickett, who decided enough was enough and brought New Glarus back to last season's form. Karls averages 11.8 points per game and continually impresses Rindy with her dedication toward getting a victory.
"She's impressed me the most of anyone. She's an insanely hard worker," Rindy said. "She does whatever is needed on the floor to win because she wants to win that bad. Sometimes that's not scoring, sometimes that is scoring."
When the Knights' season definitively turned on a dime in the second half of a 46-40 victory over rival Belleville on Jan. 8, Karls was in the thick of the rally, literally pounding the floor, not to be denied victory.
Once Pickett got her shooting stroke down to a science, she forced opposing defenses to play her for the 3-point shot and has killed great squads like Black Hawk and Marshall. Her accuracy from beyond the arc has her directly behind Karls in the points department at 11.3 per contest.
"If she has time to get off her shot she's going to make it," Rindy said.
Throw in the always-feisty Kendra Mussehl, a 6-0 sophomore post who can score with both hands in Hannah Rotar and a formidable host of others, and the Glarner Knights are sitting comfortably and poised to ward off threats to what's still their throne.
Rindy definitely paid attention during the leader of the Cheesemakers' speeches about staying hungry and humble while exciting action and rewards start coming the team's way.
"It's great that we're in the driver's seat, but just don't be happy with anything," Rindy said. "Play every game like we have to win it."
Now that the Ws are piling up and Rindy has the ears of his talented - and young, to boot - players, he can breathe a little easier and focus on keeping the conference trophies pilling up in New Glarus.
"I'm excited to be where I'm at," Rindy said. "Hopefully the girls will be just as excited and really into it through all the age levels. That would be great to be the team to beat for years to come."
The puzzle pieces have changed dramatically, but with Rindy at the helm the final picture looks to be the same.
- John McNally is a sports writer with The Monroe Times.
He can be reached at jmcnally@themonroetimes.com
