This winter, the Brookfield Central Girls Basketball team looks to embrace their new season with a new coaching staff, as well as eight new players. The girls put on display all of their fresh talent at the annual BC Thanksgiving Tournament completing the weekend with a solid win and loss.

Mallory Liebl, the new varsity coach, viewed the tournament as a definite step in the right direction. Even though the girls lost their first game to De Pere 51 to 43, Coach Liebl was impressed with some of the skills they displayed. She said, “The team took care of the ball well and were patient on offense.”

The following game, the girls got the win they desired against Oosterburg with a 57-45 victory. Although they achieved the results they wanted Liebl notes that there is still room for improvement. When asked about what improvements could be made throughout the course of the season, she responded, “Our aggressiveness on defense and rebounding still needs work.”

This year is Coach Liebl’s first year as a varsity head coach, after previously being the head coach of the DSHA junior varsity basketball team. It has been obvious to both players and spectators that Liebl has made a seamless transition into her new position. Liebl attributes this transition to the fact that she had always coached her JV teams as if they were a varsity team.

In addition to the debut of a new coach, Emma Brauer made her return to the team after tearing her meniscus and ACL last season. She started the season strong with a combined 25 points for the tournament.

“I’m just excited to be able to play my favorite sport again,” she said. Brauer’s leadership and scoring capability will be crucial this season due to the inexperience the team faces. However, both Brauer and Liebl have high expectations for the team.

“We have a lot of potential,” Brauer said. “We have the ability to challenge the more experienced teams in our conference.”
The excitement the team plays with is truly refreshing and the determination with which the new coaching staff leads the team is greatly inspiring. The combination of the two aspects are sure to make for a remarkable season this year.