Norse girls basketball team looks to continue improvement

After seeing its win total more than double last year and having success in another sport, the Whitehall girls basketball team has reasons to feel confident heading into the 2020-21 season.

With coach Beth Lisowski returning to the bench after taking 15 years off, Whitehall saw its win total increase from two to five with a number of other games that they were within striking distance of winning. While Whitehall graduated some key players from last year’s team, they also have several returning players who could fill big roles.

“We lost some key seniors from last year but also added a talented group of freshmen,” Lisowski said.  “All the upperclassmen know the ‘system’ and coaches so we were able to just start where we left off last year and continue to build our program.”

Among the returning players are three of Whitehall’s four top scorers in Olivia Youngbauer, Abby Semb and Sami Huff, all are seniors, who have two or three years of varsity experience. Brenna Clatt and Nylah Lisowski also saw quite a bit of action on the court as sophomores, as did Norah Youngbauer as a freshman. Coach Lisowski expects all six of those returning players to take big steps forward this year.

Lisowski said she expects her team to push themselves and work hard. She also wants her players to be good role models for younger athletes by exhibiting good sportsmanship and conduct, both on and off the court.

In addition to the improvement they had on the basketball court, Lisowski saw improvement many of her players made in volleyball. With five of her players also starting for the volleyball team — which went from 7-20 in 2019 to 12-4 in 2020 — there is reason to think that improvement will carry over.

“I can definitely see that the girls have more confidence going into this season than they did last season,” Lisowski said. “I think it’s a combination of a successful volleyball season and the gains they made last year throughout the basketball season.”