For York girls basketball coach Matt Kern, the issue of senior leadership hasn’t been a big deal this year. You see, the coach doesn’t have any seniors.
“I can’t say I’ve ever had a situation like this,” Kern said in an interview yesterday. “I’ve had teams with one (senior) and usually that senior was pretty good. But, this is a great opportunity for our four juniors. It’s not very often you get to be in control of a team for two years.”
Kern has been pleasantly surprised with the results for his young Dukes who graduated four seniors off of last season’s state tournament team that lost to Holdrege in the first round. But, the Dukes are off to a 7-1 start and ranked fifth in Class B (Omaha World-Herald) with their only loss to sixth-ranked Elkhorn in the finals of the York Holiday Tournament.
Coming off that loss, the Dukes got a big 43-27 win in Holdrege on Saturday against the eighth-ranked Dusters and tonight on Striv they’ll face No. 4 Gretna (7-2). It’s a state tournament-like stretch that Kern and his young team have embraced.
“We love it,” Kern said. “We love playing the teams we are playing right now. The schedule gives you a little bit of an idea of where you are at. Gretna has played a tough schedule. They play like us — with a fast tempo. It should be fun.”
With just junior Emma Grenfell returning from last year’s team as a starter, Kern has used an 8-9 player rotation that includes the four leading juniors — Grenfell (14.1 ppg), Jordyn Stearns (8.5 ppg, 9 rpg), Lauren Horras and Hayley Burke — two sophomores and three freshman. Sophomore Tayte Hansen is second on the team in scoring at 10 points/game. She also leads the team in assists.
“We like to play full-court man and really run and shoot a bunch of three-point shots,” Kern said. “We have high expectations as a program, but with what we lost last year we weren’t really sure how the girls would respond. Our young players have just been great.”
The night cap should be just as fun in York. The Duke boys (5-3) take on top-ranked Gretna (8-1).
Let’s Rewind
– Creighton Prep, Norfolk set tone in Class A
– Benson girls still control Class A
– 11 Striv schools are ranked in the boys rankings
– And, 11 Striv schools are ranked in the girls rankings, including No. 1 Dundy County-Stratton in D1
