December 04, 2024

GIRLS HOOPS: Bulldogs seek to improve upon last year’s 11 wins

Boswell leads the way, aiming to lead the state in rebounding again

By Ryan Stonebrkaer
Orient-Macksburg's Emma Boswell passes out of traffic against Murray Thursday, Feb. 8 in the opening round of the playoffs.

Orient-Macksburg's Emma Boswell passes out of traffic against Murray Thursday, Feb. 8 in the opening round of the 2023-24 playoffs. (Caleb Nelson)

The Orient-Macksburg girl’s basketball team enters a new season with high hopes and a team that can build on their 11-win total last season. The Bulldog roster sits at nine as the season starts for head coach Dave Hartman. The Bulldogs tied for fifth in the Bluegrass Conference last season at 4-5 in nine conference games.

The Bulldogs are coming into the season from an 11-12 season, which was their best win total since the 2011-12 season when they were 13-8. The Bulldogs started last year winning two of their first three games. After starting the season 2-5, the Bulldogs finished 9-7 over the last 16 games.Hartman said that he is excited to get the season going.

“We are excited to get this season going. The kids are looking forward to having another season together. We have a good group this year,” said Hartman.

The Bulldogs graduated two seniors from last year’s team in Kinsey Eslinger and Tiffany Ott. Eslinger was honorable mention on the Bluegrass Conference all-conference list. and averaged 8.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Ott averaged 2.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.

The Bulldogs will be led by junior Emma Boswell. Boswell was a Class 1A All-State player selected by the Iowa Print Sportswriters Association last year and a unanimous first-team All-Bluegrass Conference pick. Boswell averaged a double-double with 19.5 points and 19.8 rebounds a game. She also averaged 3.7 blocked shots, 2.5 steals, and 2.3 assists per game. She is chasing dominance again this year in aiming to lead the state for a third-straight year in rebounding.

Also back are Marissa Cass (4.0 ppg), Kaydence Kirkland (2.2 ppg) and Carter Osborne (1.6 ppg) in the regular rotation. Also back are sophomores Kolbie Carson and Emily Butler. The Bulldogs have promising freshmen in Mattie Thompson and Ella Boswell.

“The key to our success this year is how we take care of the basketball. If you can take care of the ball and not turn the ball over you are an asset. If you can guard a little, that is helpful. Maybe put in a basket here and there. We have some kids that can play hard and we will win some games,” said Hartman.

Depth may be an issue with the Bulldogs this year. With nine players, the Bulldogs will need to rely on their bench to give some minutes off the bench.

Hartman said he thinks Ankeny Christian, Melcher-Dallas and Lamoni will be the toughest teams this year in the Bluegrass Conference. The Bulldogs will play Essex in non-conference play after they already had non-conference games this week against Paton-Churdan and Hamburg.

The Bulldogs will also play an in-season conference tournament later this season.