EVERYTHING EVERGREENS (FOX SPORTS WAUSAU-WSAU) – It was four years ago. The DC Everest girls basketball team rolled through all 21 regular season games without a loss. That year’s team served notice early on with a 15-point win over Oak Creek, the state champions from the previous year. It would be Everest’s closest game of the regular season; all the others were non-competitive. Their only defeat was in the state finals to Divine Savior.
Taylor Petit was a freshman that season; the sixth player off the bench on a senior-laden team. Even then you could identify her as a stand-out. Taylor may have been in the best spot of her career that season. She was the newcomer on a team with a good mix of height and established scorers. She was a piece — a very talented piece — of a very good group.
She’s a senior now, and we’re about to find out there's a strong enough cast around her for Everest to make another deep post-season run.
Petit won’t be asked to put the team on her shoulders. The Everest girls basketball program doesn’t work that way. Other teams that shape their entire program around a single standout player never win. Eventually an upper-level opponent comes up with a defensive scheme that takes away just enough, and there aren’t enough other scorers to take up the slack.
Petit will be the player that opponents will always have to account for. She’ll always have the ability to take the ball inside. She’ll always be a threat to hit a step-back three-pointer. But her greatest value to the team will be creating opportunities for others. Double-team her? Someone else will be sliding along the baseline waiting for an inside pass. Cut her off on a drive? She’ll find a teammate for an open shot. Play her one-on-one? You’d need an exceptional defender to bottle her up.
The question is which other teammates can benefit the most from Petit’s presence. I can think of several. Lexie Higgins will be the Evergreen’s tallest player, and at many times will be the tallest player on the court. Keeping her out of foul trouble will be important. I think she’ll benefit from not having to share as much playing time with other post players. Natalie Mohring was the team’s most improved player from the beginning to the end of last year. There’s enough outside shooting to find someone with a hot hand from one week to the next. Sarah Lehrke and Malorie Schmoll will both be heard from. Alexis Wojnowiak and Lauren Witucki split time between the JV and varsity teams last season, and will both contribute more this year.
This year’s team will be battle tested — they’ve given themselves a very difficult schedule. The Evergreens will open at home against Brookfield, and then travel to Brookfield’s Thanksgiving invitational where they’ll play Oak Creek and Divine Savior. Those games are all against elite teams. And this year’s Wisconsin Valley Conference opponents are strong. SPASH and Wausau-West both have dominant individual players. Marshfield and Merill will also compete. And when the post-season arrives, Chippewa Falls unveiled two freshmen last year who were stand-outs. And at the end of the road, defending state champs Appleton North has the core of their team intact.
The Everest girls basketball team has lots of quality. They’ll also have a challenging journey ahead this year.
Chris Conley
11.7.17
