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The 2023-2024 Avon Girls Basketball team will be guided by head coach Brad Poppe and assistant coaches, Becky Haenfler and Don Mudder. This is Coach Poppe’s 36th year of coaching and his 29th year coaching the girls’ basketball program. This year’s seniors are Courtney Sees, McKenna Kocmich and Grace Vanderlei. Juniors include Lila Vanderlei, Kaeli Wallinga, Kinley Doom and Macy Voigt. Sophomores on the team are Lexi Vanderlei, Kate Swier and Abby Gretschmann. Finally, the up-andcoming freshmen include Rilyn Thury, Jordyn Voigt, Breanna Hento and Charli Paulsen. Last year, the Lady Pirates ended the basketball season with a 10-11 record. Everyone from last year’s team is returning, so the upcoming season holds a lot of promise for the team. This year’s team goals are to advance past Regions with the hopes of playing in the state tournament. The team also has a daily goal to improve every time they step out onto the court. The Pirates will be looking to the three seniors to provide the team leadership needed for a successful season. Courtney Sees, McKenna Kocmich and Grace Vanderlei are all young ladies that do a great job of leading by example. Their leadership will be key to the season as the team plays a tough, very competitive schedule. According to Coach Poppe, his team is made up of a great group of young ladies. They get along very well and work very hard. “I am very excited to see where this season can finish. We have some goals that we will be working to accomplish”, says Coach Poppe. The girls will need to be more consistent on the offensive end of the floor this year and they will need to avoid long periods of time without scoring. Poppe is hoping that this year there will be more players adding to the scoreboard on the offensive end for the Pirates. Good luck on the upcoming season Lady Pirates!