RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
In Andy Heim’s first five years at the helm of the Bellmont girls’ basketball program, his teams averaged four wins per season. In the seven years since then, they’ve averaged 18.
How did they turn it around? And how do they keep it going?
“It has to do with culture,” Heim said. “Culture is important to everything.”
In those early years, when his team was struggling to win games, Heim was slowly building the culture he wanted. A culture of excellence. Of high expectations. Of iron-clad commitment. It is paying off.
“When I first started,” Heim recalled, “girls would show up in the summer whenever they wanted, but most of these girls, including our 11 freshmen, showed up all summer long, played in the Carroll league, played in all the stuff I asked them to, with no questions asked. They’re showing up because they want to get better, or they like it, or—I don’t know what it is, they just show up. It’s a testament to them.”
“We are 25 individual people who have their own minds and their own thoughts and their own agendas, so culture can never be perfect,” Heim added, “but for the last handful of years, we’ve had really good team chemistry.”
The chemistry on last year’s team helped produce a sterling 18-5 record. Heim graduated three starters from that squad: leading scorer Sydney Keane (12.1 ppg), second-leading rebounder Rachel Bleke, and sharp-shooting guard Ellen Scott.
Heim will miss Keane for more than just her scoring. “Syd was a great key for us in positivity and leadership and just being that calming presence on the floor,” he said.
Rachel Bleke’s graduation leaves a void as well. “Rachel was tough,” Heim noted. “That’s six rebounds a game. And she was just an intimidating presence out there. We need a replacement for that toughness.”
Rachel’s younger sister, Emily—a junior, returning starter (8.3 ppg, 4.0 rebounds), and a second-team All-NE8 selection—is perhaps equally tough, but Heim can’t afford to play her inside much. “Emily could fill that toughness role,” he said, “but I need her out away from the basket doing ballhandling things, which is obviously going to bring her rebounding numbers down.”
Fortunately, last year’s leading rebounder, first-team All-NE8 center Hailey Cole, returns for her senior year. She averaged 7.6 boards and 10.8 points. The versatile Cole, who has committed to playing for Trine University next year, will be difficult to guard in the post, but she can also step out and drain a three.
The Braves have plenty of other very capable athletes. Junior Kam Jarvis, a leading player for the JV team who also saw some varsity minutes, will accompany Cole in the post, and senior Arabelle Laurent will provide depth at point guard. Gwen Laurent, a junior, will see action as a forward. Freshmen Kate Kitson and Lanie French, who both played well in the team’s recent scrimmage against Southern Wells, will also add to the team’s depth.
Heim hasn’t totally abandoned last year’s offensive system, but fans should expect to see something new. “The old stuff is still in, with the flare screens and the handoffs,” he stated. “We’ll still run that occasionally, but we have switched to the Stanford-Princeton offense. It will put the ball in Hailey’s hands a lot. It’s a lot of back cuts. We’re doing the back cuts now, but kind of going through the motions. We got better all through the summer, and we’re getting better now as we’ve picked it back up.”
Scoring, Heim feels, can come from many sources. “Shooting is a strength of ours,” he said, “but as I tell everybody, I thought it was a strength of ours last year too, but you’ve got to learn how to shoot with pressure and with a hand close, and not just shoot when we’re at practice and scrimmaging against people we know.” Heim’s two returning starters have shown they can do that: Emily Bleke (56%) and Cole (52.8%) led last year’s regulars in field goal percentage.
So impressive is the athleticism of this year’s squad that Heim plans to expand the Braves’ defensive repertoire too.
“I hope we get to play a little bit of man this year,” he said. “I think we’ve got a couple freshmen (Kitson and French) who are really good defensive players. Emily can defend. We’ve got smart kids who can defend, so we’ll toss in some man. It’s probably on me as a coach to understand that there are going to be some hiccups and not just bail on it. I think we can get good at it by the end of the year.”
In the NE8 conference race, it’s mostly the usual suspects—defending champ Columbia City, tradition-rich Norwell, and Bellmont. Columbia City returns all its starters, including three first-team all-conference players. Norwell brings back NE8 first-teamers Kennedy Fuelling and Makenzie Fuess, along with second-teamer Dekota Hubble and honorable mention picks Annabelle Johnson and Vanessa Rosswurm.
Heim considers defending champ Norwell the favorite in the sectional, with his team and Northwestern providing the biggest challenges to the Knights. Northwestern ended the Braves’ season last year in a hard-fought sectional semifinal game.
The Braves open the season at home against Concordia on Tuesday, November 7.
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