Hiebert ready to lead Plainsmen girls

Kate Hiebert knows what her younger teammates are feeling and plans to help them through any nerves.

The senior forward is entering her third season with the Crocus Plainsmen varsity girls basketball team with a big increase in responsibility.

“I’m so excited. Third year on varsity, it’s different because I’m a leader. They look up to me and I get to play my hardest … for my final year and have fun with it,” Hiebert said, adding some advice for her new teammates.

“Make the best of it. I know with basketball, it’s hard. You get down on yourself a lot, missing shots and everything, but you’ve got to keep going.”

The Plainsmen open their first home tournament, the Early Bird, today against the Neepawa Tigers at 9:15 a.m.

Hiebert’s varsity debut didn’t go as planned. She tore ligaments in her ankle and had to miss the first month of her sophomore year. She said she was scared when returning to action at first, but that didn’t last long.

“Honestly, everyone was so nice and including. That’s (what’s) so nice about our basketball team and our basketball program,” Hiebert said.

Plainsmen head coach Adam Hartman said the five-foot-eight forward was a quick study back then, and hasn’t stopped trying to learn since.

“She is very smart, she’s a great communicator, she’s a great teammate, all of the girls are a really close-knit group,” Hartman said.

“They’ve been friends and part of our basketball community at Crocus since they walked in the door, and she’s definitely taking a lot of pride in being a leader.”

The Plainsmen have some extra motivation this year, having lost the city championship to the Vincent Massey Vikings last year. The plaque has spent more years at Crocus than not over the past few decades.

Hiebert said the team has talked about how last year ended, agreeing it’s important to move on and just try to get better every day.

For her, that has meant adding range to her game. Hiebert feels she’s always been comfortable and strong in the post, but has worked hard on her shooting to help stretch defences out.

As a team, the Plainsmen got better with the addition of a strong Grade 11 group. Hartman said they lost just two games last year, both in Winnipeg, and have a ton of potential.

They’ll miss Ava Keller, who tore her ACL during a basketball physical education class in the fall, but have a lot of strong guards, including Mary Williams, Courtney Giesbrecht and Kinsley Penner to join Genesis Lopez Mejia in the backcourt.

“A lot of the girls who are returning played heavy minutes at the varsity level last year and we’re returning one of our best groups of JV talent coming up,” Hartman said.

“The depth across our program is strong, and we should have a pretty competitive year.”

Portage and Souris play at 11 a.m., with the winner facing the Crocus-Neepawa winner in today’s semifinal at 6 p.m.

On the other half of the draw, Vincent Massey faces Swan Valley at 12:45 p.m., with Garden Valley taking on Dauphin at 2:30 p.m.

Their semifinal is Saturday at 9 a.m.

The final tips off Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com