The Liberty Christian girls basketball team will focus on character and growth first this season. With 12 players on the roster, Head Coach Kim Meyer wants to teach her team how to play with godly character and integrity on and off the court.
The Eagles return Jubilee McGowan, Mallory Boenker, Trina Scheltens, Raelee Bruno, Madison Scheer and Emma Roden and welcome newcomers Bailey Minderman, Addelyn Scheltens, Allie Brazier and Hannah James.
“We’re always building up in character first, so we can know a lot about the game and we can be incredible basketball players,” Meyer said. “I’m always thinking long term and raising them up to be mighty women, not just mighty ball players.”
Meyer is hoping to teach this through many different aspects of the game. Before practice, the Eagles do devotions, focusing on encouragement and confidence building.
“They’re harder on themselves than they are each other, so I just will stop it as soon as I see it and then we address it and build them up in encouragement,” Meyer said. “Encouragement goes a long way.”
With their team culture instilled in the program, Meyer would like this to translate to their success on the court.
“I think that anytime you see a team that’s bonded together, then they can go further than they could if they were only about one girl,” Meyer said.
Meyer noted there are a lot of new faces this year and the team is predominantly young. Last season the Eagles had a 13-13 record and placed third in the Metro Athletic Conference.
The Eagles currently thrive in coachability and good attitudes. In practice, they are working on conditioning and fundamentals.
“We’re getting our bodies ready for a full game, so we don’t get beat down. We can beat down on ourselves when we’re tired, so we’re trying to get past the tired,” Meyer said.
Liberty Christian returns senior Lauren Moss, who led the team in multiple areas last year. Moss averaged 20.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 steals per game last season and reached her 1,000th career point her junior year.
This year, Moss wants to top 2,000th career points.
“She’s by far a star player. It kind of makes it hard to go into games because they already know she’s coming and what she’s capable of,” Meyer said.
Moss also stated she wants the team to have a successful season and win at least half of their games. She noted this is a rebuilding year for the program and they might not be as strong as they have been in the past, but the team can depend on one another.
“Everybody’s been super encouraging and we’re all trying our best,” junior Trina Scheltens said. “There’s a lot of new people and there is a lot of growth that’s going to happen, so it’s exciting.”
