We spoke with Coach Jon Brooks about last year’s season, the talented senior class mixed with some tremendous playmakers and the balance his team brings to Brookings.
Well coach first off what are your overall thoughts on making state?
Yeah obviously it feels great we’ve kind of been knocking on the door with this group the last 2 years. When these girls were all freshmen and sophomores and we lost the STM and the SoDak 16 out in Pierre, then obviously we had a tough loss to Tea last year in region. So these girls are all juniors and seniors now, so we’re really excited to get them to the state tournament.
Obviously an incredible season last year, but like you talked about you loss in a tough game. Was that motivating for you guys or what was the motivation coming into this off season?
Yeah it was something that we talked about at the beginning of the year but something we also wanted to move on from. But I think in the back of our girls’ minds it was always there and it was very, very motivating for our kids.
And they knew that we are good enough, and I knew our girls were going to fight very hard to get back to where we are now. So it was not an easy route, it was tough to get here, but I’m glad that we got it done.
You had a really tough schedule this year, what have you been telling your girls? What’s the process been like just competing against such great team?
You’re going to take your bumps along the way and that’s just the way it is. We tell our girls we’re doing this for a reason and it’s for that postseason. When we get into the round of 16 or if you’re lucky enough to make it to state, you can now drop back on those experiences in those classics and those bigger arenas and all that type of stuff. So even though we had a few losses along the way, it prepared us well.
With the Dak XII, obviously it’s the best conference in Class A but what can you just say about the Dak XII this season?
You know, just competitive and tough. Like always I thought this year was very balanced. There were a lot of really really good teams and it’s going to be like that every year. So for us to go 9-1 in conference and win another championship this year, and back-to-back with last year, and this year it was one of our goals and that was a pretty good goal for our girls to accomplish.
Yeah one game I really want to talk about is that Lennox matchup at the Birdcage. You know, they kind of got on you guys a little bit in the first half. They were hitting some shots of your transition to help you win that game?
We just told them “don’t panic.” You’re down seven and we started the game 0-14 on threes in that game.
And I told the girls you know we’re a couple of possessions and a few shots from getting this back to one possession game. There’s a ton of time left, things are going to go our way, they’re going to fall, just keep being aggressive and keep taking those shots from the perimeter.
You know Brooke Jensen came out and really got us going and then kind of our seniors there Chandler [Cleveland] and Jenaya [Cleveland] and those girls hit some really big shots in the 4th quarter and sealed it by knocking down some big shots.
Yeah what can you say about the Clevelands and your senior class? You’ve quite a few of them and just their leadership this season.
We have six great seniors. You know the Clevelands get a lot of attention for everything that they do right and deservedly so they’re very good players. They’re very competitive, They’re very competitive kids.
Brooklyn Voss has been in our starting lineup now for a few years. Those three give us a lot and they score the ball for us and just great leadership and our team captains.
And then Taeli Barta off the bench has been really good for us this year. The kid that’s kind of work their way through the whole system and finally getting her crack at getting good varsity minutes this year so we’re just really happy just the way that she’s played. And then we have Bailey Baylor and MaKenzie Richardson. Just two great seniors that kind of rounded all out. We just have a really good senior class this year.
You also have a junior that’s pretty dang good. What can you say about Brooke Jensen and just her season so far?
Yeah, you know Brooke really burst on the scene last year, Second Team All-State, First Team All-Conference, committed to Augustana this year, and she’s just one of those kids that’s very natural, she’s very gifted.
Offensively, she can really score a basketball so she gets a lot of attention. bBut it’s something we preached last year and preached this year. It’s our balance and that’s one nice thing for Brooke. She doesn’t feel like she has to do everything. We have five kids on the floor all the time who can shoot it and score it and it’s just about playing together.
You know you don’t see eighth graders play very much at this level especially at the level Taylor’s [Reuvers] been playing at. What can you say about her and just your point guard?
You know she’s just that true point guard and she gets more excited to have an assist and get somebody a bucket than herself. And when you have kids that can score the basketball and a point guard like Taylor, that’s why we’ve been able to be really good offensively this year.
Her IQ and her skill level is much higher than an eighth grader. She’s very, very talented and we’re lucky that we get her for four more years after.
Yeah and you know you talked about last year bowing out in the playoffs before state. What were your emotions coming into that Winner game in the SoDak 16?
I think it was actually kind of a relief just getting out of the region and we just kind of told the girls now it’s just time to go play and play loose and let’s go get it done. You know we had a huge second quarter and then another really big third quarter so I think they relaxed a lot down the stretch.
I think the Lennox game was really stressful and so we told them you know now it’s time to just go compete and have fun and see where the state tournament takes us.
Obviously it was the best crowd [in the SoDak 16] by far. The place was packed at Menno. What can you say about the Vermillion crowd and just what they’ve been like?
I mean they’re awesome. They’ve always been good. In the following to Menno it was tough to put into words how many people were there and the support that we got. So I know our community is excited. You know our boys made the SoDak 16 as well [Note: post-interview, the Vermillion boys qualified for the state tournament]. So a lot of good basketball is going on in Vermillion right now and I’m expecting a big crowd for us in Brookings.
Now what’s going to be the name of the game that you guys bring to Brookings on the court?
I definitely think it’s our balance. Our girls actually love playing together; they’re really good friends on the court. And it’s just a balance that we have offensively.
You don’t know who’s going to step up, but it seems like somebody always does and as long as we keep getting good shots we feel like we can be pretty good offensively and our defense and our rebounding with our size has always been good. If our balance is there at the state tournament we feel like we can compete with anybody.
You guys got that first round matchup in Brookings, another good team, Mahpiya Luta. Obviously a really, really good team. What can you say about that match up and what is going to be your guy’s preparation heading into it?
Yeah they’re very, very talented. Watching them on film they put four guards on the floor that can absolutely shoot, and get it to the hoop. Defensively, they’re very aggressive. They play eight kids.
I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen, so we’re going to have to play our best game of the year and we feel like if we play our game we feel like we can play with anybody.
Yeah and now what are you most looking forward to as a coach in this tournament?
I just think the overall atmosphere at the state tournament is something special for kids just seeing the excitement. The joy on their faces that they get to go compete at the highest level we’re excited like everyone else. I think the Class A state tournament is wide open this year. I think all eight teams think they can win it,so it should be a lot of fun.
This article is our part of our coaches’ interview series presented by The Move Group. To see the complete list, check out our website below.
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