Suttons Bay and Glen Lake teams are used to the grind to compete for the Northwest Conference girls' basketball title.

A QUARTET of players who are being
counted on for Suttons Bay this season
include (clockwise, from upper left) Beatrice
Shananaquet, Karly McCall, Arianna Guillen
and Elaine Leaureaux.

Now, Leland, Buckley and Benzie Central are also part of the grind – and the Northwest.

Suttons Bay’s season ended in the Class C District final last year with a loss to conference rival Kingsley. The Norsemen wound up third in the Northwest with a 6-4 record, and were 12-10 overall. A year later, Suttons Bay has a new coach, teacher Fred Wille. He is the fourth head coach for the program in as many years. Wille last served as head coach for the St. Mary varsity girls’ team in 2004, but had to step down about half way through the season for health reasons.

Now, Wille finds himself acting as varsity and junior varsity coaches for Suttons Bay. “I also coached the seventh and eighth grade teams this fall,” he said.

The Norse have nine girls out for the varsity and eight on the JV. Returning from last year’s team are junior Maggie Walters and seniors Arianna Guillen and Elaina Leaureaux. The team will also be looking for contributions from seniors Karly McCall, Ashley Thomas and Beatrice Shananaquet.

“We are in a rebuilding process. We haven’t had a full week of practice with everyone on the floor yet, but we’re getting there,” Wille said.

With Walters and Liz Callaway providing height, the Norsemen are probably field the tallest girls’ basketball team in the county. But, Wille said the Norse will have to further develop their skills as the season goes on. “I’ve got some girls who are great people, good athletes, but they haven’t played any organized ball since they were freshmen,” he said.

The contenders for the conference title are Kingsley and Benzie. “Kingsley has a lot of people back and Benzie, they are big, fast and strong,” Wille said.

Glen Lake coach Pete Woessner is in his second year as head coach for the Lakers’ girls’ varsity program. Glen Lake wound up 7-14 overall last year and in seventh in the conference with 3-7 record. The Lakers have 11 girls out for both the varsity and JV, with seniors Anna Brown and Abbie Christiansen serving as team captains.

Woessner said he’s excited to have Benzie transfer student Jessica Syrocki, a senior, n the team as well. “She is strong and was part of a very successful program at Benzie. We are very happy to have her on the team,” he said.

Other returning players from last year are junior Amanda Lautner, second leading scorer sophomore Paige Stachnik, as well as Kristen Pleva, Kaelyn Thayer, and juniors Katie Drzewiecki, Kayla Murphy and Lauren O’Brien. Sophomore Dani Frost will see playing time as well.

“I’m excited about this season. We had a good summer camp season and the girls are really dedicated to making improvements this season,” Woessner said.

TWO RETURNING players who are expected to
help lead Leland this year are Erica Breen (left)
and Erin Sneed.

Woessner agreed with Wille’s assessment for the conference title. “Kingsley and Benzie are the teams to beat. I think we might be in the mix, but those are both very strong, talented teams,” he said.

Leland coach Jon Kiessel is also in his second year as the varsity coach. The Comets won a share of the Cherryland Conference title last year, going 6-2 to tie with St. Mary and T-C Christian, and had a 10-11 overall record.

Leading the Comets’ charge into the Northwest this year are seniors Erin Sneed and Erica Breen. Sneed was the county’s leading scorer last season at 19.2 points per game. Also returning from last year’s team are juniors Kaleigh Stinson and Dena Popp.

With nine players on varsity and 11 on the JV, Kiessel said he sees plenty of positives this year. “We’ve got a lot of experience with Erin and Erica, with our juniors stepping up to take the pressure off of our scorers. It’s going to be a fun season,” he said.

The one attribute Kiessel said he is missing is a post player presence. “We had Anna Lau last year, who had height and a lot of experience. We’ve got speed and scoring, but we don’t have a lot of height,” he said.

Leland opens the season at T-C Christian on Wednesday. Nov. 28. Glen Lake’s first game is Nov. 30 at Elk Rapids, with Suttons Bay starting at Northport on Tuesday.