Confidence will fuel Eagles as they attack the new season

It’s year two of Jaclyn Halsey at the helm of the Northland Pines girls basketball team, and both Halsey and the team have gained confidence in each other that they hope will translate into on-court success for the 2025-26 season.

The Eagles are coming off a six-win season during the 2024-25 campaign, which included two wins in the Great Northern Conference.

Northland Pines built a steady foundation with the team last season in Halsey’s first year directing the team, and she mentioned that the second half of last season was a big turning point for the team. The hope is to carry that into this year.

“Well, it’s nice this year because it takes a while when you get a new coach to get into a new program and understand what the expectations are. But at the second half of the season last year, we started getting our groove of what our type of play is going to be,” stated Halsey. “I feel confident in them, and they feel confident in me, so I hope that kind of fuels our first few games here.”

There were a few seniors lost to graduation, but the team brings back a mix of upperclassmen and younger players. That includes six returning letterwinners and a group of five freshman players.

The six returning letterwinners who will hit the court for the Eagles this season include Ryyn Darr, Kaydence Brost, Natalie Kohn, Tatum Meier, Ryley Darr and Morgan Nyman.

Kohn, Brost and Darr (Ryley), all juniors, will be the team’s three top returning scores from last season. Each of them averaged just around six points per game to balance the offense. All three were the top three rebounders on the team as well.

Halsey said she is excited to see the jump these three make because the gap between competing as sophomores to junior year at the varsity level is a big one.

Ryley and Ryyn, a senior, will serve as co-captains on this year’s team.

“They were young last year. We had quite a few sophomores who lettered last year who are now upperclassmen. I’m happy for that because that age gap still means a big deal when you’re a sophomore facing off with seniors,” stated Halsey. “A cool aspect here is that we have two sisters on the team, the Darr girls, who are co-captains this year. They’re not co-captains because they’re sisters; they’re captains because they deserve it. They talk and bring the energy, so I’m excited to have that year of them leading this team together.”

Halsey said that some of the freshmen players got acclimated to the varsity team over the summer via team camp and summer league at Northland Pines, so they are jumping in right away in early-season practice.

Pines will focus their goals this season early in the year in an attempt to catch a fast start in more ways than one.

“We want to start with a nice schedule and nice wins. We have capable wins here to start the season, so we want to start strong. Our must-wins need to be wins, and the team understands that assignment,” explained Halsey. “But as a goal, we’re also looking to start scoring faster.”

The Eagles want to work every day on getting quick baskets and getting back on defense. The coaching staff is optimistic about that goal due to the speed of the team.

“If we can run with other teams, we’re hoping that will be to our advantage,” Halsey noted.

Now Northland Pines will look ahead to its opening game this week, which is a home game against Mercer this Thursday, Nov. 20, at 6 p.m. The Eagles will then host a home doubleheader with Three Lakes-Phelps on Tuesday, Nov. 25. The girls game tips off at 6:30 p.m.