The Minot Majettes head into Tuesday’s regular season finale against Bismarck Century with an overall record of 9-10.

After that contest, MHS plans to host Turtle Mountain Community in the WDA West Region play-in game on Friday night. Meanwhile, The Minot Daily News reached out to varsity girls head coach Jason Schwarz to get his thoughts on the pulse of the club heading into the most important stretch of the season. Here is what Schwarz had to say via email.

MDN: What are your overall impressions of the team at this point in the year?

Schwarz: I believe we’ve made some significant strides throughout the course of the season. These past couple of weeks we’ve been able to gain the confidence and show that we can play with the top teams in the WDA. Now we need to continue that progression, get over the hump, and see what we can do to beat those teams come post-season.

MDN: What has been the biggest challenge for your group thus far?

Schwarz: The growing pains we’ve had have only pushed us in the direction to getting better. We’ve stressed to our players that the challenges we’ve faced will only make us tougher and stronger in the long run.

We have a young team, but they’ve all gained valuable experiences this year. Losing Mariah Evenson to injury was a tremendous setback. Other players have had to step up and step into more important roles, which they will only stand to grow from. We are looking at this season as being a tremendous learning opportunity.

MDN: Talk about the evolution of Avery and Maggie and what they have meant to your club?

Schwarz: Avery and Maggie have had to carry a big load on both offense and defense. We’ve asked them to do a lot of our scoring, and they usually have to match up defensively with the better players and scorers from the other team.

They draw the toughest defenders from the other team as well. Both have done extremely well in those roles, playing primarily against other seniors and juniors. They continue to form into well-rounded players, as have all of their teammates.

MDN: What other players have stepped up their level of play down the stretch run this season?

Schwarz: Elsie Hardy is continuing to get better and better. She’s a force for us inside on both ends of the floor. She has the ability to score a lot inside and rebound, and we need those things from her consistently.

Alexis Haider is really shooting the ball well this season and is our leader on and off the court. Taury Hight is a playmaker on both ends of the floor. She can make this happen with her defense and can score in a variety of ways.

Maya Aguilar is another player that is making plays for us on both ends of the floor and can score in a variety of ways. Kierra Orr and Presley Bennett have given us quality minutes off the bench and will need to continue in this role moving forward.

MDN: What will be your approach heading into the WDA play-in game?

Schwarz: Our approach will be the same as it is for any other game. We want to show improvement from one day to the next, and be a better team than we were the previous day and previous game. We are no different than any other team at this time of the season, but we want to be playing our best basketball come post-season.