It was the best season for North Montgomery girls basketball in the Ryan Nuppnau era last year as the Chargers posted their first winning season and their most wins (12) since 2013 as they went 12-10 a year ago. Last year included a county title for the Chargers as they were led by four seniors in Madi Welch (8.1 ppg 2.4 stls), Lydia Dugard (5.2 ppg 5 rebs 3 asts), Hadley Broadwater (3.3 pts 3.4 rebs)and Journal Review Player of the Year in Katie Rice (15.5 pts 10 rebs 1.1 blks).
“It wasn’t just that those four seniors were starters and contributed a lot, but they had also played a lot over the last three years,” North Montgomery coach Ryan Nuppnau said. “Losing that experience and knowledge is going to be tough to replace right away. One thing with those girls leaving is that allows the chance for other girls to step up and we’ve started to see that in practice. They’re all showing glimpses of what they can do, its now about translating that to live games when they matter. I’m exctied for how we can grow as the season goes on and impress some people.”
North Montgomery does return sophomore Piper Ramey who averaged seven points and nearly eight rebounds a season ago. Ramey was a second-team All-Sagamore Conference selection a year ago and will be the focal point of the Chargers offense this season. Nuppnau noted how important the sophomore will be for his team especially in the first few weeks of the season when the Chargers are still figuring things out.
“Piper can do a little bit of everything and I think that eases everyone on our team a little bit,” he said. “They know that if we need help bringin the ball up she’ll be right there to step in. Her leadership this year I think will be super important. That comes in my opinion from her playing three sports. She’s competitive year round in everything she does. I know she’s feels a little bit of pressure but she’ll figure things out and be just fine.”
With what will be a new look roster the Chargers and Nuppnau won’t be judging their success on wins and losses. The youth and inexperience that the Chargers have will cause some growing pains but at the end of the day and at the end of the season, whenever that might be, Nuppnau says success this season will come down to one simple thing.
“As long as we see that growth from the beginning of the year to the end, that’s what is the most important thing,” he said. “It’ll be important that we continue to gain the knowledge of our strategies and what we want to do as a team. If we’re able to become more comfortable with ourselves and more confident out there on the floor then that will be a big step forward. We have some girls who can do some good things, they just don’t have the confidence yet.”
North Montgomery opens up its 2022-23 season on Saturday when they host Parke Heritage beginning at 11 am.
