THUNDER BAY – Jon Kreiner has two very big holes to fill on a basketball team that does not want to take a step backward.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves coach has to replace two-time reigning OUA most valuable player Leishja Grant, who led the league in both scoring and rebounds.
That alone would be tough enough for the veteran coach, entering his 17th season with the Thunderwolves program.
Add in the loss of guard Karissa Kajorinne , the second-leading three-point shooter in the OUA, whose 13.5 points a night ranked 12th in the league, and it’s easy to see the women’s basketball team will need someone on this year’s squad to step up their game.
Kreiner said the good news is there are plenty of candidates who have expressed a desire to be those players.
It’s why he’s not too concerned, as training camp got under way earlier this month.
“I honestly feel it’s going to be the team overall,” said Kreiner, who guided his team to a 20-4 record last season. “I think this is one of the deepest teams that I’ve had here and I truly believe that even though we’ve got 16 kids out there, that any one of them can step on the floor and play.”
Two he singled out were American import Lily Gruber-Schulz, who battled injury woes last season, and guard Tiffany Reynolds, one of the top defenders in the OUA.
“They want to step in and take on a bit more of a role then they’ve had maybe last year on the team,” Kreiner said.
Others who he’ll be counting on are fourth-year guard Nikki Ylagan, a three-point threat on any given night, and second-year guard Sofia Lluch, fresh off a stint winning gold for Team Meorca at the Natwest Island Games in Gibraltar.
Ylagan led the OUA with 71 made three-pointers and said she’s ready to take on even more of a lead scoring role in 2019-20 on a team that will be forced to play more of a run-and-gun style with Grant and Kajorinne moving on.
It’ll take time, but they’re getting close as the preseason nears.
“I think our chemistry is building,” Ylagan said.
“I’m super excited and very motivated to help coach get us to where we need to be.”
Lluch, one of the best playmakers the team has seen in years, said this season she won’t need to adjust quite as much to the university game, and enters the campaign on a high.
“This year everyone is going to have to do – not everything by themselves – but if everyone gives a little bit more, one per cent better in one hundred different ways … if we do that, we’ll be a great team,” Lluch said.
The expectations are just as high as they were last year, when the Wolves lost out in the OUA semifinal, falling 68-60 to Ottawa.
“Hopefully we go to nationals. We have work to do. This year we’re going to change our style of play. We’re going to be more of a running team. I’m excited for that,” Lluch said.
Court shots: Top recruit Kaylah Lewis, from Colorado’s Brighton High, says she hopes to be back on the court in time for the start of regular-season play, after tearing her ACL last January … The Wolves will host Calgary on Sept. 27 and 28 at the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse in exhibition play.
