HOLMEN — Lionel Jones wanted his Holmen High School girls basketball players to celebrate their defensive successes during a practice drill centered on ball movement.
The first-year coach encouraged them to announce their tips of the ball as it whizzed through the lane and around the perimeter during Monday’s first practice of the season.
Each tip or deflection was greeted with shrieks, shouts and applause.
The excitement mirrored Jones’ demeanor about returning to high school basketball after seven seasons as coach of the Viterbo University women’s basketball team.
“When I saw the job was available, I knew I was going to make a change from Viterbo already,” said Jones, whose V-Hawks went 15-14 last season. “This was a no-brainer for me. I know the tradition here and the athletic program here.
“I thought it was a great fit for me.”
Jones takes over a team with a load of returning experience that helped the Vikings place third in the MVC last season and push champion Aquinas twice along the way. Holmen was 12-12, and seniors Macy Kline (11.4 points per game, 4.3 assists per game) and Charley Casey (10.4 ppg, 11.0 rebounds per game) return as the top scorers.
Sophomores Makenzie Nunemacher, Aspyn Archer and Reese Tierney played in every game as freshmen and combined to average more than 14 points and eight rebounds per game. The numbers aren’t huge, but the experience gained along the way.
“I see a lot of versatility and players who can play in different spots,” said Jones, who also coached six seasons at Durand High School and took the Panthers to the WIAA state tournament before his stint at Viterbo. “We have great leadership in Macy Kline and Charley. That leadership and the young talent we have brought me here.”
Kline and Casey have contributed at the varsity level since they were freshmen, and both were named to the All-MVC first team as juniors. The entire first team — Aquinas senior and Bradley University commit Sammy Davis and Central senior and Eastern Illinois commit Alahnna Simpson included — returns to the court this winter.
Jones said in addition to being impressed by his seniors’ basketball skills, a deep WIAA postseason run by the volleyball team with Kline and Casey at the forefront showed him a lot, too.
Casey, who has 514 rebounds and 425 points during 57 career games, said building team chemistry under a new coach is the goal for early practices. With that established, the new ideas Jones brings to the table can be implemented.
“We know he likes energy, takes nothing easy and wants us to get better each day in practice,” she said. “We know the practices will get more challenging, but that’s what prepares us for the games.”
Jones said the current sophomore class is filled with hard workers and was able to take advantage of its collective minutes in last year’s rotation.
But he also understands that Casey and Kline will be go-to players while the younger ones build even more experience alongside them. Nunemacher was the leader for that group with her averages of 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Jones would like to expand the contributions that Casey and Kline have provided during their careers.
“I don’t think Charley understands what a versatile player she is,” Jones said. “Sometimes, when you come up and you are the tallest kid, what’s the first thing they do?
“They stick you inside. I think she has a lot more to her game, and my job is going to be to get her to realize all of the talents she has as a basketball player. I think the system we are going to run really fits her like a glove.”
Kline has built her reputation as a consistent ball handler and scorer and pesky defender on the perimeter. She is also inevitably the one diving to the floor and fighting for possession of the ball.
“I see a lot of toughness, a lot of speed and athleticism,” Jones said of Kline, a UW-Green Bay volleyball commit. “I’m not a big volleyball guy, but watching her play this fall, Oh, my gosh. She is incredible.
“The attributes I saw in volleyball are what I want to translate to basketball.”
