By Michael Rupp
The 2021-2022 Girls High School Basketball season starts next week, and the War Eagle Conference is once again full of great teams that could make a run for the state championship.
Last year the conference was won by the Knights of Unity Christian, who went 10-0 in conference play, and would go on to win the girls 3A State Championship.
Royals Senior Ellie Hilbrands says, “The teams to look out for this year in the War Eagle are Unity and Akron. Unity is always a solid team, and they return a lot of talent after coming off of a state championship last year. Akron also has a lot of depth and talent returning to the court.”
The Royals will be looking to compete with the Knights and the Westerners for the top spot in the conference. Last season the Royals went 9-1 in conference play, beating Akron-Westfield 60-40, and losing to Unity Christian 58-47.
“I think this year we have a strength with our experience,” says Hilbrands. “We’ve played a lot of games together, and we know the game really well.” MMCRU is returning Senior Guard Emily Dreckman, Senior Center Ellie Hilbrands, Senior Guard Taylor Harpenau, and Junior Guard Kora Alesch.
“So far practice is going really well,” says Hilbrands. “We’ve been working hard on some new offense and defense, and we all seem to be playing with a lot more confidence since making a run to the state tournament last year. Our strengths are balanced all across the court, and the in-and-out game works very well for us.”
Last season Dreckman led the Royals in scoring, putting up 373 total points. She shot 49.5% and had 93 assists.
Hilbrands also was able to fill up the stat sheet last season. She totaled 298 points, shot 65.5%, and had 174 rebounds.
The Lady Royals season begins December 3 on the road against conference rival Gehlen Catholic.