The Minnewaska Area girls basketball team has been gearing up for this season for years.  The Lakers went 20-9 last year under coach Sidney Barker and the team returns all but one player (Avery Fier) from last year’s team.

Nick Danielson takes over as the new head coach of the program and he’s hoping with seven of the top eight players returning from last year’s team, the Lakers could be primed for another run at the section title.

The Lakers are set to open up the season this Friday at home against Lac qui Parle Valley.  Minnewaska also has early home games against Eden Valley-Watkins, Tuesday, Nov. 26 and against BBE, Tuesday, Dec. 3.

Also coming up early in the schedule is a game at NLS, Tuesday, Dec. 10.

Last year, the Lakers fell to NLS in the sub-section final, 52-42 and the Wildcats went on to beat Windom for the Section 3AA title, 80-40, before going 1-2 at state to place sixth overall in Class AA.

Could this be the year Minnewaska overtakes the Wildcats?

Danielson has been an assistant with the boys basketball program at Minnewaska Area High School in recent years so he should be well-prepared for leading the girls team.

He will be assisted by Brad Randt, Grace Gerads, Josh Greene and Mayaya Hoelscher.

A little about last year

Sauk Centre won last year’s WCC title with a 12-0 league record, followed by Minnewaska Area (10-2), West Central Area and BOLD (both 7-5), Morris Area-CA (4-8), Melrose Area (2-10) and Montevideo (0-12).

This year, Sauk Centre is again the team to beat, but the Lakers, WCA and BOLD should also have a chance at the league championship.

The Lakers started last season off at 3-0, but then lost four of their next six games to fall to 5-4.  Minnewaska then won six-straight game to improve to 11-4.  After going 3-3 over its next six games to stand 14-7, the Lakers won six of their final eight games, including a 71-38 win over Litchfield in the section opener and a 66-29 rout of KMS in the sub-section semifinals before losing to NLS in the sub-section championship game at Willmar, 52-42.

The Lakers trailed by only two points, 31-29, with 15:18 left in the second half against the Wildcats.  However, NLS outscored 13-4 over the next 10 minutes to take a 44-33 lead with just under six minutes left in the game before the Lakers mounted one last rally bid that fell short.

With both NLS and Minnewaska fielding young teams, it could be the same two teams back in the sub-section finals again this season and the winner of that game would also be the favorite in the section championship game.

Megan Thorfinnson, a senior this season, was named the Team Most Valuable Player for the Lakers last winter.  She averaged 11.2 points, 3 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.5 assists per game while directing the Laker offense.

Earning the Offensive MVP honor was current-senior Sydney Dahl, while current-junior Lauryn Ankeny was named the Defensive MVP.

Dahl led the Lakers with 374 points last year, averaging 12.9 points and about 5.5 rebounds per game while also leading Minnewaska with 43 blocks.  Ankeny averaged 6.8 points and 4 rebounds per game and led the Lakers with 92 steals.

Earning the Laker Award was Avery Fier, the only senior on the Laker team last winter, while winning the Hustle Award was current-senior Addy Kath and current-junior Alia Randt.

Season statistics

The Lakers had eight players average about four points or more last year, including Dahl (12.9 ppg), Thorfinnson (11.2), Ankeny (6.8), Kath (6.6), Fier (5.6), Randt (5.3), Olivia Danielson (4.1) and Jayda Kolstoe (3.8).

Kath had the most rebounds last winter with 189, followed by Dahl with 157 and Ankeny with 106, while Thorfinnson led the Lakers with 68 assists and Ankeny had a team-best 92 steals.

•  Earning All-Conference for the Lakers last season were Megan Thorfinnson, Sydney Dahl and Addy Kath, while Lauryn Ankeny was named honorable mention.  

Dahl was also named the Outstanding Offensive Player of the WCC last winter, while Sauk Centre’s Cierra Kortan earned league MVP honors and BOLD’s Kenzie Visser was named the Outstanding Defensive Player for the second-straight year.

Overall, Sauk Centre and WCA both had four players named to the 17-member All-WCC team during the 2023-24 season, while Minnewaska Area had three, Morris Area and BOLD both had two, and Montevideo and Melrose Area had one apiece.

•  In addition, Thorfinnson was named to the All-Area second team and Dahl was named to the All-Area third team.