1999/2000 Game Results Last Updated: December 17, 1999

December 5, 1999  

North Girls

- Coach: Dan Sippel, 1st year.

- 1998-99 record: 11-3 Big Rivers, 18-5 overall.

- Returning starters (2): SENIORS--Scooter Aspen, 5-3, G; Nicki Robinson, 5-8, G.

- Other letterwinners (5): SENIORS--Beth Hoenisch, 5-4, G. JUNIORS-- Larissa Parr, 6-0, C; Lindsey Rongstad, 5-9, G; Heather Quilling, 5-8, G; Kricket Whyte, 5-9, F.

- Newcomers (5): SENIORS--Emilee Planert, 5-8, G; Jessa Quick, 5-8, F; Gretchen Schroer, 5-11, C. JUNIORS--Andrea Thorsness, 6-0, C; Angie Ziehme, 5-9, F.

- Strengths: Quickness … athleticism … deep, talented group of guard … positive attitude.

- Weakness: Adjustment period, with new head coach.

- Coach's comment: "We're looking forward to having a great season. We have a lot of enthusiasm."

-- Dan Sippel

North balanced again

Transfer student Planert joins veteran squad

By Steve Beaudry

Leader-Telegram How simple can it get?

Video cassettes, stopwatches, line graphs and pie charts weren't necessary to scout the Eau Claire North girls basketball team last season.

For opponents seeking an edge, the Huskies' booster club cordially provided a list of North players who needed to be stopped on page 22 of the team's glossy program.

It's called a roster.

The Huskies' balanced, unpredictable, new-heroine-every-night brand of play made life miserable on the rest of the Big Rivers Conference in 1998-99, when North won 11 of its 14 league games and finished second to Hudson in the conference standings.

North also snapped Hudson's 49-game BRC winning streak and ended the defending WIAA Division 1 state champion Raiders' season with a 39-35 victory in a regional final.

Expect the same democratic, spread-the-wealth offense from the Huskies this season.

"Everyone on the team is unselfish," said Dan Sippel, who has taken over as North's head varsity coach after an eight-year stint as an assistant under retired Chico LaBarbera. "They seem to get more of a kick out of making a slick pass than taking a shot."

In their 23 games last season, the Huskies (18-5) had seven players notch game-high point totals. Four of those seven -- junior forward Larissa Parr, senior guards Nicki Robinson and Scooter Aspen, and junior guard Lindsey Rongstad -- are back.

But the most talked-about player on North's roster so far this season wasn't a member of the 1998-99 team. Emilee Planert, a 5-foot-8 senior guard who led Altoona in scoring for three straight seasons, transferred to North this year. Though she currently is slowed by a stress fracture in her left leg, she figures to add a new dimension to the Huskies' offense.

"They made me feel right at home right away," said Planert, who has secured an NCAA Division I basketball scholarship with Kent (Ohio) University. She and Parr were All-Northwest third-team picks last season.

"I thought about coming to North last year, to play sports at a bigger school -- for the challenge of it," Planert said. "I got to come over last May and visit for a day. Nicki and Scooter showed me around, took me to their classes. They're really nice."

Putting Planert in a backcourt with Robinson and Aspen is akin to slamming the pedal to the metal and slapping a fuzzbuster on the dash.

"Even without Planert, North had an extremely deep and talented backcourt," Eau Claire Memorial coach Steve Smith said. "Now that Planert's there, look out."

"When a new player -- especially one with the skills and reputation of an Emilee Planert -- joins a veteran team, there's always that chance for resentment or dissension," Sippel said. "But we've had no hints of that. Everyone gets along, and everyone's so enthusiastic. This team makes it easy for me to come to practice with a smile on my face.

"Emilee's come in and worked her tail off. In practices, she's never let up for one second. She fits in well with this group. She's set a great example."

If the rest of the BRC's guards aren't sweating yet, they're at least starting to breathe hard.