After a 9-0 start, NR-S is grabbing
By CRAIG HAUPERT, Staff Writer chaupert@minotdailynews.comNEW ROCKFORD - When a team returns nearly every key piece following a 19-4 season, expecta- tions are high. If that same team adds an all-state transfer student to the roster, expectations shoot through the roof.
Such is the case of the New Rockford-Shey- enne girls basketball team, which to this point of the season is living up to the hype. Through nine games, the Rockets are undefeated, the No. 3-ranked Class B team in the state and have beaten their opponents by an average of 25.7 points per game.
So how far can they go?
"Our dream is to win regionals and to win state, and we think we have the talent to do it too," said senior forward Justene Engels, who is second on the team in points per game (14.1) and first in rebounds per game (8.3). "That being said, we focus on one game individually. We look ahead, but not too much as to forget what we are doing right now."
One of the many reasons for the Rockets' fast start is the addition of senior Bobbi Grann. The 5-foot-7 guard transferred in from Minnewaukan-Leeds, which finished fifth at state during the 2006-07 season.
Rockets head coach Elliot Belquist believes her postseason experience will benefit the team.
"She's been there. She's been to the state tournament, she's been in those big games before," he said. "I am hoping some of that stuff rubs off on the other girls - how to fight adversity and how to step it up when things aren't going so good. You see that in her, she's a very competitive person."
Grann is fitting in well and is averaging a team-best 18.8 points and 5.2 steals per game.
"Getting used to the new team was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be," Grann said. "Everybody has been really freindly and helpful and pretty welcoming. There is a great group of girls here and I really like my coaches. Everything just fit into place."
The other piece to the Rockets' puzzle is an increased focus on defense. During every practice, Belquist keeps reinforcing the idea that good defense leads to easy offense.
His preaching came to fruition in the Rockets' 78-51 win over Lakota Monday. Trailing 7-2 early on, the Rockets used steals and deflections to spark an offensive explosion.
"Next thing you know it is 14-7 and we had five layups," Belquist said. "It was kind of neat because, I don't know what they thought going into the game, but when they got down 7-2 they thought we had better pick it up on defense. They did and it led to layups.
"I think they are starting to believe in what we are doing and getting after it on defense. That's the biggest thing."
The Rockets know they've got a lot of work to do if they are to improve upon their finish from last season. Despite finishing 19-4, the Rockets lost to Langdon the opening round of the Region 4 Tournament.
"We still need to work on rebounding and boxing out. We're not very tall so we have to use what we have - it's one of our weaknesses," said senior guard Shelby Wetzel, who averages 10.1 points per game. "We have been working a lot on that in practice so hopefully it will be one of our stronger points by the end of the season."
The Rockets are back in action today at Wells County.
