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Defense will be the key to success

NASHUA-PLAINFIELD GIRLS BASKETBALL

Defense will be the key to success

Fisher, Hansen to lead offense at N-P this season

Starting a season always involves looking at what’s gone and what is left to come. This year, Nashua-Plainfield girls’ basketball head coach Erik Smith will be trying to replace not just skills players, but a team leader, too. Smith said graduated players Sarah McMichael — a four-year varsity player — and Kayla Dietz were key position players and scorers who will be missed on the offensive side of the ball. But graduate Hannah Holthaus brought something to the team that carried a little more weight than just being a lead scorer.

“Hannah Holthaus was one of those emotional leaders,” Smith said. “She could really get the girls fired up and focused. It’s hard to find girls like them.”

While working on stroke, defense, ball handling and free throws are all part of the standard practices, Smith will be working with boys’ basketball head coach Justin Eiffler on helping both teams prepare mentally for games.

“We have this 12-week program of short videos, that will help them understand how to bounce back after an error, recover from a loss, how to refocus, things like that,” Smith said. “Yeah, there are skills things this can help with, but it also will help our mental preparation, too.”

McMichael and Dietz brought an offensive prowess to the Huskies’ offense last season, and with that missing, Smith said he’s going to have to go about finding other means to win some close games. While scoring might be an issue early on, Smith said defensively, his team will have to find ways to turn stops into scores.

After establishing what he N-P

varsity lifestyle, but won’t be hindered by it too much with the experience he carries over from previous minutes played last season.

Eiffler said he has already thought about some goals he wants his team to accomplish by season’s end, but also has to be realistic when looking at the big picture.

“Obviously, we want to get down to Des Moines,” Eiffler said. “But really, I want us getting better every day. Losing those guys we did, it’s going to be hard to replace them. But the hope is we get better each game.”

By Stephen Koenigsfeld sports@charlescitypress.com

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