Ben Murphy
Contributing Writer
(Photo provided – The Potterville Lady Vikings stood by one another through the season and finished with three wins in the final two weeks of the regular season.)
The Potterville girls basketball team finished the year with a 4-19 overall record. The Lady Vikings closed the season strong though, with three of those wins coming in the final two weeks of the regular season, including a Division 3 district opening win over Charyl Stockwell Prep, 34-14.
“We ended the season how we wanted to, winning a game in districts,” Coach Al Adams said. “All season we talked about what our goals were for the year. The number one goal was to win in the post season. Even though we didn’t take it all the way, we made a great first step with a young team.”
Having a youthful roster in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference proved to be a pretty tough task most nights, but even in games they came up short in, there was more often than not plenty of positives to take away.
“As a young team in a tough conference, we put up some really good fights,” Adams said. “We took so many of our games right down to the last minute and came out just short. As coaches, we were able to see the growth in our freshmen players and watch them get comfortable playing varsity in one of the hardest conferences in the state. We saw our juniors step up and be leaders on and off the court. Our sophomore fifth quarter players made huge growth and gave us some really crucial minutes down the stretch. Even if the record doesn’t show it, we had a great season this year in terms of what’s next.”
The coach also pointed out some young players who helped lead the way this season.
“We had a lot of great leaders this year,” Adams said. “We leaned heavily on junior guard Aubrey Gasch and freshman guard Remmi Lienerth. Those two played almost 100-percent of the time every game. Between the two of them, we have a lot of basketball IQ on the court. They were figuring each other out this season, but once they are on the same page that will be one of the most dangerous duos in the CMAC. And we can’t wait.”
While their district loss to Stockbridge ushered in the official end of the season, Adams knows their work is just beginning in a lot of ways.
“We aren’t done yet, we have a lot to give on this team, and we are ready to put in some off-season work,” he said. “This season was a good start but there’s more to do. The end of the year is always hard. We go from seeing each other every day to seeing one another once in a while or talking over a text. Luckily, this year is a little easier than years past because we aren’t saying goodbye to any seniors. The end of the year just makes us look forward even more to the start of the next.”
Having no seniors on the roster this year means that when next winter rolls around, Adams is going to have a bunch of familiar faces in his lineup.
“We are always looking to what’s next,” he said. “We know we can be tough in the CMAC next year and we want teams to respect Potterville. In the 2026-2027 season, we can be a team other schools don’t take lightly.”
