ONALASKA — Ryan Svendsen wasn’t sure how long it would take to see what kind of Onalaska Luther High School girls basketball team he’d have back in November.
The coach fully understood what seniors Macie Neumeister, Allie Zittel and Payton Holub could do for the Knights, but how they could connect and meld with a group of freshmen he wanted to test immediately was yet to be seen.
The Knights were blasted 54-22 by Bangor in their first game — the Cardinals are 17-4, by the way — and that gave Svendsen plenty to work with as his crafted the plan that he hoped could make them contenders in the Coulee Conference.
A familiarity with one another grew quickly, and the Knights won eight straight games. They have since been defeated three more times, but Svendsen is thrilled with what he has seen since opening night in his team’s home gym.
“At that point, we had four freshmen playing the first game of their high school careers,” Svendsen said. “As coaches, we didn’t know how they’d perform. They didn’t know how they’d perform.
“Slowly, we started finding their strengths and how they could fit within the team. Our seniors and juniors have helped put those pieces together and make us competitive.”
The Knights (16-4, 9-1) have been more than competitive as the second-place team in the Coulee. Their four losses have been to teams with a combined 68-15 record as of Wednesday, and all four of those teams — Bangor, Aquinas, West Salem, Durand-Arkansaw — have played in a WIAA state tournament since 2017.
As expected, Neumeister (12.8 points per game) and Zittel (10.4 ppg) emerged as Luther’s top and most consistent scorers. Neumeister had 22 points and nine steals during Thursday’s nonconference victory at La Crescent-Hokah and followed that up with 17 points in a win over Black River Falls on Tuesday.
Zittel made four 3s and scored 16 against the Tigers and averaged 13.5 points in those two games.
But the way they’ve helped introduce players like Natalie Hackbarth, Cara Unke, Brinley Schmitz and Jayda Livingston to the big picture and turned it into a very successful one earned Svendsen’s praise.
“We’ve talked all year about we before me,” Svendsen said. “It’s been fun to watch them give out nicknames and tease them about strengths and weaknesses and become a real unit.
“Obviously, you put freshmen on this level because you know they can compete. We saw athleticism and a ton of basketball IQ. That’s what leads you to think they can handle the chaos of this level.”
The growth from those four — Unke and Hackbarth the quickest and most consistent — has helped the Knights become contenders in the Coulee. They trail the first-place Panthers by a game with two left, and the teams meet in Onalaska to close out the regular season on Feb. 20.
