Marathon playing for South title
Jeff Schneider, who has begun his 17th season as Marathon’s varsity girls basketball coach, has a handful of players returning this season who have varsity playing experience.
His assistant coaching staff consists of Hannah (Schmitt) Franke, Chuck Baldeshwiler, Hayley Cramer and Nicole (Reisner) Myszka.
Marathon lost two senior starting players, Anna Cleven and Hope Krautkramer, to graduation in spring from last year’s squad that posted a 5-7 record in the Marawood South Conference and was 10-14 overall. Marathon lost to Edgar in the WIAA Division 4 regional championship last season.
Coach Schneider does return his top scorer from last season in Allison Wokatsch, a five foot, eight-inch senior guard who is close to obtaining 1,000 career points. Wokatsch averaged 14.2 points per game last season.
“Alison has worked very hard and is set to have an outstanding senior season after already being a three-year starter,” Schneider said. “Her ability to play with her head up has taken her game to another level, in addition to being a good shooter and scorer.”
Marathon also has the sister duo of senior five feet, eight-inch guard Jada and junior guard/forward Kali Prihoda back this season.
“Jada is a tremendous rebounder who plays with a lot of effort and heart,” Schneider said. “We are looking for Jada to continue to defend and also score the ball off of drives to the basket and offensive rebound putbacks. Kali has really taken strides in becoming a complete player; she might be our best defender and is going to be able to consistently score this season.”
The Red Raiders will get senior five feet, nine-inch forward Sofia Tylinski back at some point from injury this season.
“Sofia is a tremendous leader who unfortunately suffered a torn ACL over the summer,” Schneider said. “If she is able to return later in the season, she will be a nice presence near the basket.”
Coach Schneider also has great praise for senior five feet, five-inch guard Kayla Radtke.
“Kayla returns to the basketball program after having played at the lower levels,” he said. “She is a tremendous defender and has been improving every day. We are fortunate to have Kayla back for her senior year and expect big things from her.”
Other top Red Raiders on the varsity squad this season are senior five feet, nine-inch forward Alyssa Hall, senior five feet, six-inch guard Camryn Sapinski, senior five feet, four-inch guard Jenna Aschbrenner, senior five feet, 10-inch forward Laci Hoeksema and junior five feet, six-inch guard Ashley Phakitthong.
“Alyssa is a strong finisher near the basket and she’s also is a good shooter from mid-range,” Schneider said. “Camryn is a good athlete that will be looked to provide good defense and also knock down open shots with her ability to shoot the ball. Jenna is a great on-ball defender who is ready to show her quickness with the ball on the offensive side this season. She plays extremely hard all of the time. Laci is a super leader and very good around the basket and her hard work is showing on both ends of the floor so far this season. Ashley is a great communicator who can really attack the basket with the dribble; she plays so hard all the time and is a super leader.”
The following are Marathon’s top newcomers to the varsity team this season: junior five feet, two-inch guard Hannah Baldeswiler, junior five feet, five-inch guard Chloe LaValley, junior five feet, seven-inch guard/forward Ahlexis Dru Nowak and sophomore five feet, 10-inch forward Ava Krueger.
“Hannah has good ball handling skills and ability to shoot from the perimeter,” Schneider said. “Chloe is a great defender who has really improved her driving and shooting abilities. Ahlexis works very hard on defense and can knock down open shots. Ava has great leaping ability and will be able to defend and rebound for us. She is getting stronger near the rim and will continue to develop her offensive game.”
If all goes well, coach Schneider said his Marathon squad should be one of the teams contending to win the Marawood South Conference this season. He said Auburndale, Edgar and Wisconsin Rapids Assumption are some of the other top teams in the conference this year. Marathon already lost a close road game to Auburndale but it defeated Edgar.
“I believe our team will compete every game in the Marawood South this year and have an opportunity to beat some really good teams,” he said. “We will continue to improve on our spacing, passing and finishing throughout the season and hopefully be in contention in February for the conference championship.
