'I have high expectations': Kimberly girls basketball team ready for breakthrough after strong finish a season ago

KIMBERLY – Despite losing their top player from a year ago to graduation, expectations are high for the Kimberly girls basketball team. And that’s just how the Papermakers like it.

“I have high expectations,” Papermakers coach David Lepisto said. “The reason I love coaching in Kimberly is that we have high expectations across the board regardless of the sport. We’ve been in our sectional final in five out of the last six years. Last year, it took us a little while for kids to completely understand the coaching change, even though I had been in the program for 10 previous years, and we made that sectional final.

“So our expectation is to compete for that FVA title. Then trust our process along the way and be playing our best basketball in February and March.”

Kimberly started slow during the 2022-23 season but closed on a tear, finishing fifth in the Fox Valley Association at 10-8 and 16-12 overall. The Papermakers won eight of their last 11 games, losing to Germantown 94-67 in a WIAA Division 1 sectional final, behind the play of senior guard MaKenzie Drout, who averaged 18.4 points per game.

Although she has moved on to Appalachian State, several others have stepped in and are ready to continue the program’s success.

Junior Kate McGinnis is one of those players. A year ago, she averaged 10 points per game.

But nothing is easy in the FVA.

“It is a test every night,” said Lepisto, whose team is ranked No. 6 in Division 1 in the wissports.net preseason poll. “The preseason rankings, which mean nothing, give you a sense of who those teams are. We know who they are, but three of our first four games are against four of the top teams in the state. We start with Brookfield East (Saturday). Then we go over and play a tough Appleton East team at Appleton East. But then we go Hortonville and Neenah, so you are looking to quite a start to the season.

“Then, once we get into that Appleton East, Hortonville, Neenah and just the rest of the FVA, you have to be sharp. You can’t have a night off. If you have something that goes on, nothing is ever going to be perfect but you could trip up quickly by anybody in this conference.”

The Papermakers know that all too well, placing fifth in the conference the past two seasons. The last time Kimberly won the league title was in 2020-21, when it was 17-1 in the FVA and 25-2 overall. A talented roster, however, means this team is optimistic it can return to its past glory.

“We’re young, but we’re experienced,” Lepisto said. “We have seven returners that played in big games. We made it to that sectional final. They had to beat a great Kaukauna team in that sectional semi and figured out a way to do it. And beat a great Homestead team, the two-seed on their home court. So they have experience.

“We have kids coming back that have been in big games that know the pressure. But then we also have some incoming freshmen and sophomores who are just ready to compete. I’ve seen it in practice just after the first week. There’s no sense of waiting their turn, for lack of a better way. They are going to give us great depth. We have some length, we have some good shooting, an ability to get to the rim. Now our biggest thing is to get everybody on the same page defensively. That’s where we’re a little bit behind right now, but that’s always the case after the first week.”

One of those players that hasn’t let pressure situations get in her way is McGinnis. Despite having two more seasons of high school basketball to play, she has already decided her college future, verbally committing to Belmont University upon graduation.

“Kate looked for places where (they had her major), but also finding programs that fit our style,” Lepisto said. “Belmont fits it perfectly, down to the language we use is pretty similar. She felt comfortable with that staff, she felt comfortable in that place and like she said to me and to my assistant coach, she’s got two years to focus on us as Kimberly girls basketball and like she said, ‘getting better.’ No one is going to outwork Kate. She’s going to keep getting better and better and better. That’s her mindset. To have that two years without having to worry about it, that’s good for her.”

McGinnis said the comfort level at Belmont was important to her, and the ability to concentrate on her final two years at Kimberly.

“It’s really cool to know a program that does the same things that Kimberly does,” McGinnis said. “Where it’s not just set plays. It’s a lot about decision-making. Just knowing I can just focus on high school basketball, but also being super comfortable with my decision right now, otherwise I wouldn’t have made that decision.”

Kimberly’s other returning starters are junior forward Raegan Krueger, senior guard Jadyn Dietrich and senior guard Alix Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick is expected to miss some time, however, after having a recent surgery.

“(Krueger) has made a leap from the beginning of last year as a sophomore,” Lepisto said. “By the end of the year, she understood what we needed her to do and everything slowed down. She’s had a great summer and fall and she’s had a great first week, so she’s ready to take that next step.

“Jadyn Dietrich will be the next starter, who is our senior glue player. She just does all the little things for us. Moves the ball, sets good screens, guards extremely well and knows how we want to play. She is fantastic returning in that position.”

Even though Kilpatrick is out for now, Lepisto is confident other players will step in when needed.

“We have 13 kids on the roster and all 13 can play,” Lepisto said. “It’s going to be understanding roles and embracing roles. Even if you’re coming off the bench, you may be getting more minutes than someone starting at a certain point. That’s yet to be determined as to who those next ones are going to be.”

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McGinnis said she has confidence in the whole roster.

“Everyone on our team can pass, shoot and score, so it’s really building chemistry with our team and a dynamic where we all play together,” McGinnis said.

Krueger also likes the way the Papermakers roster is coming together.

“This year I think as a team we’re going to play really well together,” Krueger said. “I feel like we have that connection built already from the start. We’re going to be able to have that chemistry on the court and be able to move the ball and scare other teams with how much better we are this year.

“It was super exciting last year. We weren’t expecting it. We just kept working at it every day last year. I think this year we will get even further. I think for expectations this year we want to make it further. It’s just how much effort and work we put in to each practice to get us there.”

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Kimberly high school girls basketball team ready for breakthrough