North Montgomery basketball was young a year ago. With plenty of freshman and sophomores on the roster, the Chargers ended last season with a 4-20 record. Now turning the page to the 2023-24 season North will have a good portion of its roster back and have a year of experience under their belts. The Chargers kick off their season on Saturday when they travel to take on a talented Parke Heritage team.
Ryan Nuppnau enters his 10th season at the helm of the Chargers and knows that his girls will be more experienced and ready to improve this season.
“We’re really excited because we have a great group of girls this year,” he said. “Early on in the season because we have some depth, it’s going to be tough to figure out what rotations will work for us. Everyone is pretty similar in skill set and this team is more athletic than last year’s group. These girls have really been absorbing everything what we’ve been teaching them. They want to learn and not just going through the motions. It’ll be fun to see how this team improves each and every week.”
North does return junior do-it-all player Piper Ramey who led the Chargers in points (11.0), rebounds (8.6), assists (2.4), steals (1.9), and blocks (.6) a year ago. Sophomore Macee Norman who started a season ago will also be a key factor for the Chargers. In her first varsity season Norman averaged 7.4 points per game while grabbing 4.9 rebounds. Players like Kaydence Young, Krestyn Bradford, Ella McManomy, Jazmen Newlin, and Blair Nichols also all return from last year’s team. North Montgomery also will feature three freshman in Mady Holt, Caelyn Carpenter, and Sophie Crum. Holt will likely be a factor for the Chargers as she’s shown great ball-handling skills at the point guard position.
A season ago, Ramey was the focal point of everything the Chargers did including bringing the ball up the floor. This season Nuppnau believes with his returning girls having a year of varsity experience under their belts, it will take the pressure off of Ramey do be the do-it-all player she was a year ago.
“Piper’s number one quality about her is that she is so competitive in everything she does,” Nuppnau said of his junior. “She’s a three-sport athlete and is competing in something year-round. She knows how to handle the pressure and is ok with the spotlight being on her. She’s a calming presence out there for everyone of the other girls. As the season progresses we’re going to learn that Piper doesn’t have to do everything. We’ve got some capable freshman and sophomores who can do some things and that will alleviate the pressure off of Piper and hopefully open her up for some more opportunities.”
North Montgomery’s game on Saturday against Parke Heritage is slated to begin at 5 pm with 1/2 of JV game with the varsity beginning roughly at 6 pm. The Chargers will have their home opener on Tuesday when they welcome Bethesda Christian for a 6 pm varsity only contest. The Chargers will have two more road games next week being at Frontier on Thursday and at Attica on Friday.
