Caston, Winamac have returning cores, await healing players

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

FULTON — The start of girls basketball practice may not be until Oct. 20, so when the Caston and Winamac girls basketball teams got together with Western for a three-way scrimmage at Caston Friday, it served as something of an appetizer before waiting for the main meal.

Winamac’s top guards Kandace Kroft and Sadie Popejoy were there, accumulating points both off the dribble and from behind the 3-point arc. Maggie Keller was away playing softball, and forward Marissa Iverson was at a family funeral.

Even though she was not there, Iverson might have been the big story as coach Tony Stesiak said Iverson has received medical clearance to play. Iverson suffered a knee injury against Pioneer Jan. 28 and was out for four months. She missed a home loss to Twin Lakes in the regular season finale and a two-point loss to Knox in the sectional.

Iverson is one of two experienced players returning from injury. Wing Corinne Ulerick, a key reserve in 2023-24 who missed last season after shoulder surgery, will also be back.

“She’s released now,” Winamac coach Tony Stesiak said of Iverson. “Just finally got fully released after four months. … She just got fully released this week. We saw her Tuesday at open gym. She’s working her way back. She fundamentally changed how we played at the end of the year missing her. There are not many kids that are capable of a double-double, and she’s one. We basically played five guards today, but that’s OK; we worked on that too.”

There would also be an influx of talent from the freshman class, and Stesiak called the numbers situation “OK.” He added that the aim is to play two JV quarters before every varsity game.

Another newcomer is guard Jocelyn Kain, a move-in from Pioneer who sat out last season per IHSAA transfer rules. Kain will be a junior in 2025-26.

Winamac won four games in Stesiak’s first season in 2022-23 and have followed it with back-to-back 14-10 records each of the last two seasons.

“There are very few things in life I care less about than the results of summer basketball,” Stesiak said. “My philosophy in the summer is this is playing-in-the-sandbox time. It’s one glorified open gym. … I want them to work on all the things they want to work on, whether it looks good, bad or indifferent. Take the shots. Work on the moves. Do all those things. It’s hit and miss. It’s a hodgepodge of kids all the time. Kids are working. Kids have other things. They’re playing other sports, which I love.

“Like today, I think three of the kids, this is the first time we’ve seen them all summer. Corinne Ulerick’s playing her first organized basketball game in a year, so it’s about…what do you want to work on and getting some experience? The results are secondary, maybe at the end of a game, working on some end-of-game situations a little bit. But other than that, it’s about keeping everybody healthy.” 

Caston did not have Madi Douglass for the scrimmage against Winamac – she was at a camp at St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame – but Douglass was back for the Western scrimmage, which Caston won 42-25.

Regardless of whether Douglass was on the court or not, the objectives appeared to be to pick up the tempo and to get paint touches.

Grace Colvin and Hadlie Coffing ran the offense with Madi Douglass not there.

Caston scored fewer than 30 points nine times last year, and they averaged just 34 per game. The season ended with a 34-13 loss to Pioneer in the Class 1A, Sectional 50 quarterfinals at West Central.

“Better than what we were last year,” coach Josh Douglass, who is headed into his sixth year, said. “Obviously, we want to get the ball inside because we feel like to get it inside will also be a good pass to the outside for a shot, so it’s an emphasis of us running screens to get them open and also being able to hold that position to be able to get the ball there too.

Douglass was asked if he wants to see the Lady Comets run more.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes,” coach Douglass said. “We need to be able to spread the court and run. We have speed. We’re going to have a deep bench, I think. There’s a lot of experience coming back, so yes, and we’re doing a better job of it at filling the lanes. We’re making bounce passes and sharing the ball so much better than what we did last year just because everybody was unsure of each other.”

While Iverson and Ulerick are available now, Caston still waits for sophomores-to-be Allison Craig and Gigi Berry to return. Craig had shoulder surgery after the season and is still recuperating. Berry tore her ACL and MCL in May in an AAU game and could have a longer recovery. Camila Hernandez-Rios was out of town but is known for her ability as a defensive stopper.

A sophomore just returning from a ligament tear to her knee who looked impressive is forward Ellie Zartman, who displayed shooting range out to 15 feet. Lexi Field and Ava Russell are two varsity newcomers who appear as if they will have a chance to have a varsity role.

“They’re showing up in the summer and working hard,” coach Douglass said. “They’re doing some really good things. You know, if you’re a team that’s getting out and running and pushing and pressing on teams, which we are not pressing right now, but anybody has a chance to step on the court for me.”