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Youth movement is on for YME Sting
YME sophomore Alana Almich puts up a shot in the post during a non-conference game against Wabasso on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 at Granite Falls. Joe Brown / West Central Tribune
Yellow Medicine East heads into the season with no seniors on its roster
BY MICHAEL LYNE | West Central Tribune
GRANITE FALLS — The Yellow Medicine East girls basketball team will be youthful in the 2023-24 season.
The Sting, who were 12-13 overall and 7-10 in the Camden Conference in 202223, have zero seniors on their roster this season. YME lost three roster pieces — Hannah Stark, Ruby Bones and Stella Schuler. Stark is currently a member of Briar Cliff University’s JV women’s basketball program.
“This is a young but hard-working group of girls,” said YME first-year head coach Lucas Christoffer, who will be assisted by Yansi Flores. “They understand the challenges ahead as well as their potential.”
Christoffer, who replaces Ryan Schultz after his five seasons at YME, has two returning starters to his nine-girl roster. Schultz is now the head coach of the Ridgewater women’s basketball team.
Those returners to the lineup are sophomores Alana Almich and Ella Cherveny. Almich is a 5-foot-11 forward and Cherveny is a 5-3 guard.
“Alana has good footwork, plays the game the right way and can hit an open shot from anywhere,” Christoffer said of Almich.
Christoffer is looking forward to seeing progression out of 5-7 sophomore guard Bayli Sneller.
“Bayli is an excellent outside shooter who has improved a lot over this past year in other aspects of the game,” Christoffer said.
YME has two upperclassmen on its roster: Ashley Luepke (5-4 guard) and Klaira Shackelford (5-2 guard).
The remaining underclassmen that make up the Sting’s roster are: sophomore Abby Gullickson (5-10 forward), freshman Breea Johnson (5-6 forward) and Kourtney Peterson (5-0 guard) and eighth-grader Abigale Bones (5-11 forward).
