Lady Mavericks Basketball 2017-18

The North Country Lady Mavericks have a few reasons to be optimistic about the 2017-18 season, a year in which the team hopes to dethrone the Scobey Spartans who took first in the 3C District last season.

Last season the Mavericks were second in the 3C District, posting a 12-11 record and losing out on day two of the Divisional Tournament.

The Lady Mavericks have returned four of last season's starting five, losing only Kayleigh Cummings to graduation, which means they have returned plenty of experience.

"We are sitting with six seniors right now and we have four that have been in the program. Two of them have been in the program for four years and two for five years," Coach Amber Erickson said. "I think they have a good idea of the system, the things we preach and the standards that we go by and the things that are important to our program."

Coach Erickson knows that the senior class often has a strong influence on a team.

"You are going to go as far as your seniors want to take you," Coach Erickson said. "These four that have been in our program from four to five years realize that this is it for them and they are going to go out and put on a competitive jersey. I think they want to go out and make a statement."

Those long-time players include seniors Bailey Funk, Jada Sudbrack, Mickayla Johnson and Casity Boucher, who each have played in a state tournament in previous seasons.

"They have a pretty good idea of what it takes to get to that level and to be successful," Coach Erickson said. "We have two big girls (Johnson and Sudbrack) in there that are athletic and we have two solid guards (Funk and Boucher)."

The senior class' intensity during practice has been contagious, but Coach Erickson is hopeful they can keep it up.

"Their intensity level in practice and working harder in practice is there right now," Coach Erickson said. "The challenge will be keeping it there all season long in practice and how it will transfer into games."

With the experience that this team has, Coach Erickson has switched the team's focus from basics and fundamentals to other areas of the game that she believes will help them become a "great" team.

"We're working on communication with each other," Coach Erickson said. "We are working on mental toughness; the ability to buckle down and not let mistakes frustrate them and we are working on continuing to trust each other."

That trust includes being able to trust aggressive play throughout the game.

The team went with an all senior starting lineup in Glasgow last week, with Sydney Zeller taking the fifth spot for the team.

"Sydney in our program is like a freshman and a half or a sophomore because she had played basketball before but she hadn't played in our system so everything was new," Coach Erickson said. "She has a lot of athletic ability and we are just trying to get her worked into the system to understand the offenses and defenses to help her find her place on this team."

This year's team has a lot of developing talent that came up big in moments last season.

"Along with these great upperclassmen, we have a bench sitting there with a lot of kids that can come in and fill whatever role is needed for us to be successful with those older kids," Coach Erickson said.

The team has also set a few goals for themselves this season and those younger players are pushing the older players.

"A lot of those goals are for the end of the season but one of those goals is mental toughness and intensity in every drill," Coach Erickson. "What I really like is that we have younger kids that are willing to step in and aren't afraid of the older kids and they are willing to challenge them. That makes everybody on our team better. You both step up and play hard or you end up getting beat."

In order to go far into the post-season, the team has its sights set on a very familiar foe. The 2016-17 District 3C Champs.

"That is definitely one of their goals," Coach Erickson said. "They want to beat Scobey this year. Scobey has lost a lot of their size, so I think that they will have a lot of trouble matching our size as most teams will because not many Class C teams have three five-eleven to six-foot players."