Lady Jays attack 2024-25 with depth

The Three Lakes-Phelps girls basketball team has plenty of depth to work with for the upcoming season. With a few handfuls of returning players, the Lady Jays can run as much as eight deep on any given night. 

With over a week of practice in the books, returning letter winners Ayla Connor, Kailyn Fogerty, Kaylee Cornelius, Libby Eppler, Kassidy Williams, Haylee Barnekow and Kylee Wilson will help lead a deep roster.

The Bluejays finished the 2023-24 season with a 10-15 overall record and finished fourth in the Northern Lakes Conference with a 4-6 record. 

So far, TLP head coach Rich Javenkoski expects a healthy rotation this season and has seen clear changes in the returning group of players. 

“Our rotation is probably going to go eight deep,” he said. Javenkoski expanded that he has seen growth in the returning pool of players as they look smarter, faster, and stronger on the court.

That growth helps as Javenkoski wants what every other coach wants. 

“Great defense, rebounds, and limited turnovers,” were just a few of the things he mentioned that should always happen on a team no matter what. 

Last year, the Jays had six scorers averaging around seven or eight points per game, and four are returning this year. Williams comes back as the team’s leading scorer, while Fogerty, Barnekow and Wilson are all back as well. 

“I expect balanced scoring. Obviously, there will be a moment when someone steps up,” stated Javenkoski. “I would look to any one of the five starters or rotation players to have a game outside of their average. Depth is our strength.” 

Javenkoski worked with the team last year as the interim head coach starting in December, 2023. This year, with officially being the head of the program, he brings a coaching background that includes being at Edgewood in Madison for three years and at the youth level at Three Lakes for 16.

With the comfort of knowing the playing style of each of the players on varsity because of his youth coaching, the team’s goal will focus on each game as getting a win.  

“Our goal is to win every game,” explained Javenkoski. “Starts with conference and goes into the playoffs. We will see how far we can go.” 

Three Lakes-Phelps will open the regular season when it hosts a boys-girls doubleheader with Northland Pines Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 5:45 p.m. The girls game is the first of the two games that night.