Middle school girls basketball wraps up in Burlington

The middle school girls basketball season has wrapped up and it was a season unlike any other for Coach Mike Aagard.
With only four eighth graders, four seventh graders and 12 sixth graders, it was a young team. “We needed girls to play up a lot this year. When we went to the tournament, we took the seventh and eighth graders to the A tournament and the sixth graders to the B team tournament. This can be a good and bad thing. It does allow younger players the opportunity to play up, but with that it takes away the opportunity to play at their grade level and sometimes with other athletes in their class,” said Aagard.
It was also a rough season for sicknesses. “On any given day, we would have anywhere from two to six girls out sick. We would have an occasional game where we had most of the girls and things seemed to be magic, but for most of the season we were trying to fill gaps,” said Aagard.
Despite the challenges of the season, both teams performed well at tournament time with the A team beating Meeteetse in the first round. They went on to lose to Rocky Mountain but won against Greybull to earn third place. The B team, made up of those younger players, beat Riverside and Rocky but lost to Greybull in the championship game, earning them second place.
“Each year is a little different and it is fun to see what each person brings to the team. This year’s team was a lot of fun and had some of the nicest girls you will ever meet. They were also very hard workers, especially on defense. Each girl seemed to grow and find their strengths. We had so much growth throughout the season from all of the girls and they ended the season with both groups playing great games at the tournament,” said Aagard. “One of our struggles that we faced was having confidence in our shots. There were times that they should have shot the ball or driven to the basket, but instead they would try to pass it to someone else to make the play. Overall it was a great season. It always amazes me at how much these girls improve in just a few months. Next year, we will miss our four eighth graders, Madison Aagard, Sophie Olson, Rae Chatwin and Jamie Taylor, but I feel that the future is bright for the middle school girls team.”