Steien, Thompson lead B-T girls into new season

The Blair-Taylor girls basketball team were scheduled to begin their 2020-21 season Tuesday where their 2019-20 campaign ended roughly eight-and-a-half months ago.

Back in March, then-Wildcat freshmen Abby Thompson and Lindsay Steien helped lead B-T out to a 35-29 lead before Bangor came back to tie in the second half and win in overtime. As year two for the dynamic young scoring duo was scheduled to begin this week, the future looks bright for the Wildcats.

The first task for B-T this year will be in replacing the scoring and effort on the boards from graduated senior starters Marlee Nehring and Lauren Kidd. Nehring was third on the team in scoring with 12.5 per game in 2019-20, while also leading the team in rebounds with 6.0 per game. Kidd was fourth in scoring and rebounds last season with 6.3 and 4.8 per game respectively.

Junior Chloe Wagner started just over half of the games last season, but still finished second on the team in rebounds with 5.6 per game. Look for her role in the paint, as well as that of senior McKenna Boe who finished sixth in total rebounds, to increase this season. Sophomore Callie Wagner may also get opportunities to fill Kidd’s vacated role in the interior, as she is listed as the team’s only center.

B-T will be relying on Steien and Thompson to avoid the sophomore slump, while looking for a couple other scoring contributors from last season to expand their roles.

Steien proved to be more than capable of taking over the offense down the court, leading the Wildcats in assists last year with 4.8 per game. She also demonstrated an ability to finish through contact, reaching the line for 121 free-throws while converting 88 for a 72.7 percent clip from the charity stripe.

Thompson was also the only other Wildcat aside from Nehring to average over two assists per game last season. Where Thompson really shined however was in three-point shooting, spotting up from the corner and wing with ease while nailing 63 triples last year. Both Steien and Thompson were B-T’s most reliable scoring options a year ago, tallying 19.2 and 14.8 points per game respectively over the course of the season.

Another player hoping to have a healthy and productive 2020 is senior Emma Johnson, who returns from an ACL injury last season. Johnson was out to a promising start in 2019-20 when her injury cut the season short. Her 5.6 points per game over seven games was still fifth-best on the team at season’s end. Seniors Alivia Boe and Austyn Capouch also round out the group of upperclassmen looking to round out the depth on an otherwise young team.

B-T returned to the top of the Dairyland Small Conference last season after missing out in 2018-19 for the first time in four years. If this young team continues to develop, expect them to build upon their 19-6 campaign including postseason play last year with another competitive season.