ELKO — The Elko girls basketball team enters the season on some unfamiliar footing.
The Lady Indians — following the dismissal of Kaaren Ross after the first day of practice — will be led by first-year head coach Desirea Danner.
For details on Ross’ firing, contact her at 934-2114.
Elko High School and the Elko County School District have stated they are unable to speak on personnel matters.
As for the task at hand, Elko will look to build on its 2021-22 campaign — in which the Lady Indians went 13-8 overall, 5-5 in league play and advanced to the semifinal of the 3A North tournament with a 48-24 win over Wooster before falling to Lowry for the third time by a score of 63-33.
Danner feels confident in her abilities to coach a team she is familiar with after serving as Ross’ assistant.
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“I’m comfortable out here on the basketball court and we have some great leaders on the floor,” Danner said. “It’s everything else, the off-court stuff that is new to me — all the behind-the-scenes tasks.”
Doe to a young team last year, Elko welcomes back nine of 12 players — the roster consisting of six seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and a freshman.
Strengths
Danner expects solid play from her six seniors.
“We have speed, and this is a big year for them,” she said. “We want to play a quick pace, use constant motion and push the floor. Defensively, we will play a mix of zone, man-to-man and install some new defenses. I hope we can shut teams down. We want to jump passing lanes, force turnovers and create as many easy scoring opportunities as we can.”
She added that she has seen great improvement from the girls in the short time since tryouts and a couple weeks of practice as compared to last year.
“The girls have a lot more confidence in their ball handling and shooting,” Danner said. “They know me, they’re comfortable with me and we are still using everything Ross installed. She created a great, tight-knit program and we want to grow that and follow her path. We can’t control change, but we can control how we respond to it.”
Weaknesses
Although Elko brings back several award-winning athletes and a large number of players with varsity experience, one question that remains is how the Lady Indians will fare in the paint on both sides of the ball — hitting the floor without a lot of length — needing to rely on hard-nosed effort, grit and effort.
“We don’t have a lot of height,” Danner said.
Returners
The Lady Indians will be led — in large part — by now-senior Aurora Eklund.
As a junior, she garnered 1st-Team All-League, 1st-Team All-North and 2nd-Team All-State selections.
Eklund averaged 14.3 points, five rebounds, 2.9 steals and 2.5 assists — leading Elko and ranking fourth in the state in scoring.
She was also tied for seventh in the state in assists.
With 21 games of stats recorded to MaxPreps, Eklund scored in double figures a remarkable 16 times.
On Dec. 18, 2021, she dropped a career-high 27 points in a 59-41 home win over Wooster — tallying a rare double-double with a career-high 10 steals, adding six rebounds and six assists in an incredible performance.
She snagged a season-best 11 boards in 47-37 home loss to Spring Creek on Jan. 11, at Centennial Gymnasium, adding 15 points for a double-double — also posting a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double effort in a 66-42 home win against Truckee on Feb. 4.
Eklund dished a career-best seven assists in a 43-29 victory during the Winter Tip Off against Carson on Dec. 3, 2021, in Reno.
In her junior season, now-senior Peyton Jacaway was a 2nd-Team All-League guard.
She averaged 9.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, a team-high 3.4 steals and a roster-best three assists — finishing fourth in the state in dimes-to-scores and sixth in takeaways.
In 21 games of stats, Jacaway scored in double digits 11 times — netting a career-high 21 points in the Lady Indians’ 66-42 home win over Truckee.
In Elko’s 48-24 regional quarterfinal win over Wooster, she notched a double-double with 14 points and a career-best 10 steals — flirting with a triple-double with seven boards and three assists.
She yanked down her season high of eight rebounds in two contests, a 56-20 loss to Douglas on Dec. 2, 2021, and a 55-22 road win over Hug on Dec. 10, 2021, in Reno.
In the Lady Indians’ 59-42 home victory versus the Lady Colts, on Dec. 18, 2021, at Centennial Gymnasium, Jacaway dished a career-high nine assists.
Senior post Johanna Rivera was an honorable mention for the regional awards as a junior in her first season of varsity hoops — her availability for the season in question after suffering a knee injury.
She averaged 5.3 points, a team-high six rebounds and a steal.
Rivera scored a career-high 18 points in a 55-22 win over Hug on Dec. 10, 2021, in Reno, and pulled down a career-best 14 boards in a 50-45 home win over Fernley on Jan. 29, at Centennial Gymnasium, nearing a double-double with nine points.
During a 62-21 home victory over Dayton on Jan. 28, she record a career-high four steals.
As a junior, now-senior guard Alysia Madigan averaged 3.5 points, 2.2 steals, 1.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists.
Sophomore Lindsey Johns played very well for a freshman at the varsity level.
She closed the year with averages of 2.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.8 takeaways and 1.1 dimes as well.
In the post, now-senior Isabela Torres tallied two points and 3.8 boards per contest.
As sophomores, juniors Bryleigh Cervantes posted 1.9 points and 1.6 assists per game and Shaylen Garity notched 1.2 points per outing.
At guard, now-senior Carly Nielsen averaged one point per ballgame.
Newcomers
The Lady Indians welcome to the team three players with no varsity experience — sophomore guard Liliana Haynes, junior forward Echo Atkins and freshman post Julyssa Rivera.
Outlook
“We’re looking forward to a great season, and the goal is to make it to state,” Danner said.
Season Openers
The Lady Indians will tip off the 2022-23 season on the road in the Winter Tip Off Tournament, in Reno.
Elko will face Division 5A North program Galena at 3 p.m. Thursday, at Reno High School.
The Lady Indians will take on Division 1A West squad Sage Ridge at 4:30 p.m. Friday and close the tourney with a 9:30 a.m. Saturday tip against Portola (California).
