Woodward-Granger girls basketball preview: Hawks win season opener
Woodward-Granger’s girls basketball team kicked off the winter sports season for the Hawks. And for the first time since 2019, that ended with a win. Now the team looks to take that momentum and move beyond last season’s 6-16 campaign.
Hawks take Game One
The script was flipped Friday night, as WG (1-0) opened the season with a 47-35 win over Collins-Maxwell (0-1). The Spartans had defeated the Hawks by double digits in the past three meetings in the annual debut game.
Once back from the extended weekend break, Woodward plays host to GMG. The Wolverines went 12-9 last season and snapped a five-year streak without a winning record. They finished third in the Iowa Star South conference (behind co-champ Collins-Maxwell) and lost just one senior starter. This will be the first meeting between the two programs.
*Stats from Friday’s game were not prepared ahead of the early holiday printing deadline.
New Era Enters
While the Hawks last had a winning record in the 2019-20 season, this season is no doubt turns the page on an exciting chapter.
No matter the game, Woodward could always expect an exceptional performance from Grace Deputy who led the team in scoring, blocks and rebounds the past three seasons. Players that score 18 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks per game don’t come around all that often. Neither do 6-foot-tall centers. Deputy was both. And now, the Hawks look to fill the void.
And with the opening win over a program that had the Hawks’ number, the transition looks to be heading in the right direction.
Aside from Deputy, the change is minimal, as every other starter from last season is back for the second year in head coach Brad Kunecke’s system.
Following a strong outing in volleyball season, Addie Lego falls into place as the team’s returning leading scorer with 9.3 points per game. She stretches the floor differently than Deputy ever did with a focus around the glass. Lego’s a sharpshooter that actually performs better the further away from the rim, as she shot 39 percent from three-point range. She shot 33 percent on two-pointers. And for a clutch factor, her 64 percent free throw efficiency led the whole roster last season (minimum 10 attempts.)
While Lego’s rebounding was dwarfed by Deputy, her 6.4 rebounds per game were second on the team while competing with an all-conference teammate for those opportunities.
Her fellow freshman teammate Eva Fleshner operated in a similar role, having shot better from distance than close range and was third on the team in rebounds per game. Fleshner and Lego were the only players to attempt more than 50 three-pointers for the season.
Also ready to make a bigger impact, a junior this year, Lexi Bogardus is the team’s second assist-leader behind Lego.
Key Stat
The Hawks were 6-5 against teams with a losing record last season, placing them at 0-11 against teams with a winning mark. With a win over Collins-Maxwell (16-6 overall) that returned most of its key players, WG is heading in the right direction to avoid a winless mark in that same category this season.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Woodward-Granger girls basketball preview: Hawks win season opener
