“I will remember how close we all were as a team and how we always picked each other up,” Kurzeck said.

Although they finished with a regular season record of 9-17, the Indians did place fifth in conference play, exceeding their preseason expectations.

“Coming into the season we were projected to finish at the bottom of the conference and we surpassed that projection,” Head Coach Lisa Kurczek said. “We had a young team with only five upperclassmen, so there was a lot of growth throughout the year.”

Along with their success in conference play, the Indians managed to pick up a dominant 68-29 playoff win against Little Chute, something they failed to do the year before.

“I think the season as a whole went very well. We saw lots of improvement and really learned to play together. Winning against Little Chute was also cool because everyone was making shots,” forward Lilly Johnson said.

The season wasn’t smooth sailing, either. Towards the later part of the season, Head Coach Ray Mlada resigned, causing Assistant Coach Lisa Kurczek to step up and take on the role of head coach.

“There was some impact with a coaching change mid-season, especially emotionally. Overall the girls responded really well,” Lisa said. “They showed a great deal of maturity, composure, and openness.”

A main reason why the team was able to succeed through these changes was due to strong leadership displayed by the upperclassmen, especially Captain Callie Kurczek. 

“Callie was a great player and role model. For the team to be successful next year, we’re all going to have to step up on both the offensive and defensive end,” Johnson said.

In her absence next year, Callie says she hopes the future seniors will fill her shoes, not just by playing well but also by helping to develop players.

“I think Becca and Lilly will take over the role because they were good leaders this year with helping some of the younger players with plays and defense,” Callie said.

Despite Callie leaving next year, the Indians should find some success being in the weaker South Central Conference. Their current East Central Conference has been extremely successful, hosting a playoff champion, or runner up, every year since 2022.   

“I expect to improve on our record moving into a new conference. We beat some hard teams this year in our more complicated conference so I have very high hopes for next year,” Johnson said.