Argos girls basketball preview: Lady Dragons have competitors, but Medich’s aim is ‘having fun’ and ‘working hard’

Val T.

2 hours ago

5 min read

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

There is plenty of time for the Argos girls basketball team to get better on defense.

Right now, the emphasis is on scoring.

Coach Nick Medich begins the second season of his second stint in charge of the Lady Dragons.

Argos won at least nine games every year from 2011 to 2024, but they won only seven games two years ago and only two games last year.

Their scoring average dropped from 37.9 two years ago when they had senior guards in Morgyn Barcus and Alydiah Leed to 22.1 last year.

They scored more than 40 points only once in 23 games, and they lost that game.

Four players graduated from last year’s team, including leading scorer and rebounder Ellie Bollenbacher. Four other players who did not graduate did not come back out for basketball either.

Still, there are four seniors back in Haley Shafer, Makenzie Smith, Kinzlee Kelly and Lilyan Ream.

Sophomores include Peytyn Willis and Madison Reynolds.

The freshmen include Emma Langfeldt, Kinzey Prochno, Harper Ripley, Alexa Urednick and Brooklyn Thomas.

Medich is concerned going into tonight’s season opener at Bremen.

“We all understand that to be a good shooter and someone that needs to score, you’ve got to put a lot of time in and practicing that craft,” Medich said. “At this point, I don’t think we’ve got the buy-in yet that they need to do that. I think they understand they have to, but giving it the time for most of the girls I think is difficult.”

All seven freshmen and sophomores are members of the Argos soccer team that won a sectional title just over three weeks ago.

Shafer plays soccer too.

Can their competitiveness transfer over to basketball? If so, how much patience will that require from Medich and his staff?

“We got a good group of freshmen girls who put the time in this summer with what we could do,” Medich, who is also Argos’ principal, said. “Our girls are pretty busy here. They play multiple sports with FFA and ag stuff, so timing and getting stuff situated was interesting. But we got to go to a team camp this year, which was fun. That was the biggest thing we did. We got to play some games this summer.”

Medich has noticed the players’ strength and athleticism.

“I think all of our girls are,” Medich said. “I think they’re all capable of running quickly, being tough and playing defense. It’s just the basketball skill set that I think sometimes is lacking. You just get that with more experience.”

Medich said the girls are working hard, and he said the girls understand what they are trying to do earlier than they did last year.

He noted that Kelly, Smith and Shafer have been good working with the younger players. Kelly and Shafer joined the younger players at team camp.

Kelly will help teach the younger players, according to Medich. She missed time last season due to injury.

“We’re going to look for her to score,” Medich said. “She’s going to have to shoot some 3s and put it in the bucket.”

Shafer’s smarts stand out, according to Medich.

“She is the mental wizard,” Medich said. “She kind of knows where everybody’s supposed to be and what they’re supposed to do. She’s my conductor, I guess.”

Smith is another hard-working vocal leader who understands what Medich wants.

A fourth senior is Lilyan Ream, who is playing for the first time since middle school. Medich said her speed will help her be a good defender.

Willis is a guard who keeps improving, according to Medich. Reynolds is a newcomer to the team.

“She mentally understands what we’re doing,” Medich said. “Skill-wise, of course, she’s a little behind because she hasn’t played for quite some time, but I like her attitude, and she works really hard.”

Look for Urednick to be a primary ballhandler as she gets more confidence.

Medich calls Langfeldt a “solid” and “all-around” player.

“She’s strong,” Medich said. “She’s quick. She’ll drive to the basket. She’ll shoot the ball. She’s going to be a good ballplayer.”

Ripley is a good passer. Thomas is a forward, and Prochno is a guard with length.

“We’re so young,” Medich said. “We just need to develop everything. … They’ve won games. They are competitive. They ran into Triton a few times and had good runs with Triton. They had a winning record. I think they lost only two or three games. They’re a competitive group, and they’ve played together for a long time.”

Medich reports that 13 girls came out for basketball and that Argos will play full JV games when the opponent can reciprocate. That will give more players more time to gain experience, especially with the IHSAA’s new rule that allows players to play six quarters in a night as long as they played all four JV quarters.

He said the team has no post players and said they will try to push the ball as much as they can while emphasizing spacing.

“Our biggest strength is just being a team right now and having fun,” Medich said. “Yeah, it’s frustrating for them at times, but for the most part, they’re willing to work at it, so it’s refreshing.”

He wants all players to be able to dribble, pass and shoot. Roles can be fine-tuned later as they get to play with each other more.

“Everyone’s going to have to dribble the basketball,” Medich said. “Everyone’s going to have to run the floor. Everyone’s going to have to shoot a 3. Once we get them doing it, I think sometimes they get frustrated because they shoot the 3 and they don’t make it, and they’re like, ‘I can’t make 3s.’ I go, ‘Well, you’re making the right decision, right?’ So we want them to know concept-wise what they’re supposed to do. And then as the year goes on, I think as coaches we’ll start shaping who we should maybe get the ball to shoot the 3 versus everyone shooting the 3s. But right now, we want them to all play the game. I want them to enjoy basketball and enjoy playing the game. Wins and losses right now, I could care less.

“I’m serious. If I can teach the girls to have fun and work hard and they enjoy that part of it, that’s awesome. Because they’re competitive, and I think over time, if we work on those skills, and they keep the competitive nature, they’re going to be pretty tough.”

Argos girls basketball schedule

Nov. 3 – at Bremen, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 5 – vs. Jimtown, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 10 – vs. Triton, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 12 – vs. South Bend Riley, 7 p.m.

Nov. 14 – at Elkhart Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 17 – at Caston, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 20 – vs. Trinity Academy, 7 p.m.

Nov. 24 – at Culver, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 28 – at Bethany Christian, 2 p.m.

Dec. 3 – vs. North Judson, 8 p.m.

Dec. 8 – vs. Mishawaka, 7:30 p.m.