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Collins-Maxwell girls enjoy another successful season in 2022-2023. Spartans tie for ISC South title

joe randleman, ames tribune
·4 min read

The Collins-Maxwell girls basketball team had another successful season in 2022-2023.

Led by juniors Erica Houge and Chloe Wierson, Collins-Maxwell finished 16-6 for the second year in a row and tied Baxter for first in the Iowa Star Conference South Division with an 11-1 conference record.

"Our desire as a program is to grow as people and basketball players," Collins-Maxwell coach Aaron Hill said. "I believe we were able to accomplish these by growing through adversity, giving consistent attitude and effort and living our core values."

Mary Staudt was a valuable senior contributor as an All-ISC South honorable mention performer for the Collins-Maxwell girls basketball team in 2022-2023. Staudt helped the Spartans go 16-6 for the second season in a row and share the ISC South title with Baxter.
Mary Staudt was a valuable senior contributor as an All-ISC South honorable mention performer for the Collins-Maxwell girls basketball team in 2022-2023. Staudt helped the Spartans go 16-6 for the second season in a row and share the ISC South title with Baxter.

The Spartans had to replace three starters in guards Alexis Houge and Avery Fricke and forward Kenzi Wierson off last year's team. Yet because of the dynamic duo of juniors Erica Houge and Chloe Wierson, they didn't miss a beat.

Collins-Maxwell opened the season splitting its first four games. The Spartans defeated Woodward-Granger (58-45), lost to South Hamilton (64-50), won its ISC South opener over BCLUW (60-42) then lost at Baxter (43-25).

Then the Spartans went on their hottest streak of the season by winning nine straight. They knocked off Ankeny Christian (44-37), Meskwaki (62-19), North Tama (51-21), GMG (47-42), Colo-NESCO (56-13), Waterloo Christian (34-31), Clarksville (51-38), BCLUW (46-26) and finished off by getting revenge on Baxter with a 51-38 win at Collins.

Lynnville-Sully ended the big winning streak by handing Collins-Maxwell a 45-40 loss Jan. 14 at Collins. The Spartans suffered a 78-49 loss at Grand View Christian two days later then reeled off wins over Meskwaki (68-26), North Tama (48-24), GMG (62-44) and Colo-NESCO (53-19).

Collins-Maxwell ended the regular season with a 50-34 victory over Gladbrook-Reinbeck. The Spartans opened 1A regional play with a 53-20 victory over Meskwaki, then saw their season come to a close in the regional quarterfinals with a 46-35 loss at Baxter.

"Our success on the court was constantly overcoming adversity and getting better as the season went along," Hill said. "We saw adversity in many forms, forcing us to adjust as individuals and as a team. Getting to know, working with, and competing with this team all season was the most enjoyable part of the season."

Hill said Collins-Maxwell did a great job building character. He also said the players around Erica Houge and Wierson did a great job performing their roles to help the team grow during the season.

For the season Collins-Maxwell averaged 49 points shooting 34.1% from the field, 24.2% from the line and 58.4% from the line. The Spartans made 79 total 3-pointers and averaged 10 assists against 14.8 turnovers.

On defense Collins-Maxwell gave up an average of just 37 points on 30% shooting and forced nearly 22 turnovers per game. Collins-Maxwell also averaged 31.1 rebounds as a team.

Houge and Wierson were sensational as first-team all-ISC South players.

Houge was the South Division Player of the Year. She averaged 21.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.6 steals and 3.8 assists, canned 46 3-pointers and shot 36.3% from the field and 62.5% from the line.

Wierson dominated the post for Collins-Maxwell. She averaged a double-double at 15.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game and also tallied an average of 3.1 steals and shot 41.2% from the field.

Senior guard Marissa Boege averaged 6.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals and she shot 60% from the line. Senior forward Mary Staudt made ISC South honorable mention after averaging 1.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals.

Juniors Vivian Kahler, Sarah Tschantz and Emma Pasquariello were also valuable contributors during the season. Kahler averaged 2.0 points and 3.0 rebounds, Tschantz 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds and Pasquariello 1.6 points, 1.7 steals, 1.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists.

Emma Pasquariello was one of five juniors to provide quality minutes for the Collins-Maxwell girls basketball team this season.
Emma Pasquariello was one of five juniors to provide quality minutes for the Collins-Maxwell girls basketball team this season.

Next season Collins-Maxwell should once again be in the ISC South title race. If they stay healthy the Spartans, with Houge and Wierson leading a more battle-tested group, have a chance to make a deep postseason run in 2023-24.

"We are fortunate that we will have two first-team all-conference players returning and players that gained valuable varsity experience this season," Hill said. "Similar to the start of this season, we have seniors who will be missed. I expect us to keep moving forward as a program, but that will mean players must also keep moving forward. Every team has its own identity, but we will continue to be who we are as a program. Like the previous season(s), we will be defined by our core values of respect, attitude, integrity, service and effort."

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Spartan girls basketball team has another successful run in 2022-2023