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Watersprings School
School Info
Conference: 1AD2 Rocky Mountain Conference
Classification: 1A D2
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Head Coach: John Yadon
Years as Head Coach: 5th Season
Previous Experience: 3 years coaching boys varsity and several years coaching youth.
Record Last Year: 4-13
Assistant Coaches:
Becky Yadon
John Darfler
Returning Players:
Destiny Darfler - G - Sr.
Taeya Dixon - P - Jr.
Abby Svancara - G - So.
Key Players lost from last year:
Elizabeth Stauffer, G
Hope Stauffer, PG
Hannah Goracke, PF
Incoming impact players:
Abigail Yadon, PG, freshman
Joanna Hayes, PF, freshman
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Team Preview
Written by: Matt Harris (@IdahoSportsMatt)
The Watersprings Warriors girls basketball program is slowly, but surely, finding their footing in the realm of Idaho high school basketball.
After posting winless seasons during their first two years as an official member of the Idaho High School Activities Association, the Warriors won four games last season. And now, the Warriors are looking to increase that total and take the next step.
Watersprings head coach John Yadon says that while his team is young, they have plenty of upside.
“We have great team unity and work extremely hard in practice,” he said. “We are athletic and have the right attitude to continue improving through the season.”
Yadon’s squad has only a few returning players, including senior guard Destiny Darfler, junior post Taeya Dixon, and sophomore guard Abby Svancara. Dixon is out of action to open the season as she is still recovering from shoulder surgery. Joining the crew are freshmen Abigail Yadon and Joanna Hayes, both of whom are expected to make an impact.
The Warriors will miss the services of now-graduated players Elizabeth Stauffer, Hope Stauffer, and Hannah Goracke.
“Elizabeth led our team in steals and scoring. Hope was our main ball-handler, and Hannah was a great defensive player that led our team in rebounding,” Yadon said. “They will be missed.”
As for the task at hand this season, the coach said that they are focused on getting more players involved overall, especially on offense.
“We have some athletic players that can finish inside and shoot outside,” he said. “We are focusing on better offensive movement and getting more players involved in the offense. That will be key for us. In past years, it’s been too easy for defenses to guard just a couple of players.”
Defensively, Yadon said that despite size disadvantages the Warriors plan on being aggressive.
“We have multiple guards that are athletic and aggressive. We are small, so we are focusing on good help defense and anticipating the opposing offense to try to get ahead of them,” he said.
Yadon went as far to say that their growth on defense could be the key to the season.
“We have to be tenacious on defense and limit the opposing teams opportunities to score and get some easy baskets off of steals,” he said. “When we do that, we’ll also need to take care of the ball. Last year we have so many turnovers it was nearly impossible to win many games.”
In the competitive Rocky Mountain Conference, even a slight miscue can send a game off the rails. Yadon expects conference-newcomer Butte County to be the front-runner, but added that Mackay and Rockland will be tough. He said that no game is a gimme.
“Many games will be good to watch this year,” he said, “but our games with Leadore are always good. We split with them last year and I see it being a barn-burner again this year.”
The coach is looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead. He’s also looking forward to the growth that his team will experience.
“Our motto is ‘Don’t Quit’. No matter the score or how tired we are, we can’t quit. We are striving to give full effort all game, every game,” he said. “I enjoy helping our players see their full potential and want to help our students to learn lessons, work ethic, and attitudes that will help them succeed in life and in their walk with Jesus Christ.”
Could this be the year Watersprings takes the next step in their progression as a program? If they can stay healthy, they could surprise a team or two on any given night.
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