ONALASKA — Sienna Kreidermacher carved out a role with the Onalaska Luther High School girls basketball team as a freshman.
She played in more than half of the team’s games and scored as many as 15 points on two occasions. Her season was shortened due to a broken wrist, but Kreidermacher couldn’t wait for her role to expand as a healthy sophomore in the sport to which she had committed.
But one day in late July while playing at an AAU tournament in Kentucky, Kreidermacher’s future role — the near future, anyway — took a turn.
“It was a feeling I’ll never forget, for sure,” Kreidermacher said. “A girl on the other team had a fast-break layup, and I was running back to defend.
“I jumped up and blocked the ball, but my right leg made contact with her leg. My knee popped to the side, and I landed on it. I couldn’t stand up and couldn’t move.”
After seeing many players walk off the court after ACL injuries, Kreidermacher thought her injury might be something else, but she was wrong. She was taken to a local medical facility for an MRI, which revealed a tear that was going to take a long time to rehabilitate.
A second injury in as many years was tough to accept.
“With any kid, it hurts, and it’s sad,” Luther coach Ryan Svendsen said. “It’s a terrible phone call to take.”
“She was saying all the right things with a ton of positivity and was looking to the future, but I think it took her a little while to believe it.”
It also probably took some time for Svendsen to accept after his anticipation of her role with the current roster.
“I think we’d have one of the most talented backcourts in the area,” Svendsen said. “What she does from a penetration standpoint, her size is interesting there, and she’s fast. She plays defense, and she’s a well-rounded player.”
The social aspect of being part of a team was important to Kreidermacher, so she had to figure out another way to be part of the big picture for the Knights, who were poised to have a big season.
Svendsen talked to her about using that positivity with her teammates, and she was game.
Adjusting to that role became even easier as she became tighter with team manager Mae Lyga.
Lyga became part of the program due to the social opportunity it provided.
“I wasn’t doing a winter sport my freshman year, and someone told me I should be a manager,” Lyga said. “I thought about it and decided to do it, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I never had sisters, and there’s a sisterhood here.
“I was so, so thankful for the way those seniors took me in when I was a freshman. That bond and camaraderie is the best part.”
Kreidermacher’s injury sprung Lyga into action.
Her friend was in a tough spot. Not only couldn’t she play basketball, Kreidermacher had to be at practice and games and watch her teammates play. While it was easy to be happy for them, it was harder to not think about what she could be doing out on that same court.
What Svendsen called the community that’s been created within the team needed to intervene. Lyga has been an integral piece of that.
“This year, she’s had my back through a lot,” Kreidermacher said of Lyga. “Just being able to sit on the bench with her helps get me through this, but all the girls have been great, too.
“It hasn’t been easy for me, but I have all of them by my side.”
And together — despite playing different roles — they will continue their march through the WIAA Division 4 postseason as the fifth seed with a regional semifinal game at fourth-seeded Stratford on Friday.
The Knights (19-6) have won five of their past seven games, and senior Macie Neumeister has scored at least 17 points in six of those seven.
Each tipoff provides good experience for a number of younger players who will suit up again with Kreidermacher next season.
This version of the team is certainly led by Neumeister and fellow senior Allie Zittel, but freshmen like Cara Unke, Natalie Hackbarth, Brinley Schmitz and Jaeyda Livingston will be ready to help Kreidermacher hit the ground running for a new season.
