Members of the Turkey Valley girls’ basketball program for the 2024-25 season are (front, l-r) Ashlyn Busta, Delaney Busta, Layni Schuchhardt; (middle) Makinley Lutgen, Kendall Kuennen, Addison Steinlage, Hazel Nieman, Madalyn Vsetecka, Brynlee Hayek, Miyah Byrne; (back) volunteer coach Frank Wilson, head coach Steve Hoffert, Emersyn Hoffert, Annika Bodensteiner, Ella Ives, Ellaney Bodensteiner, Bella Stika, Callie Busta, Haylee Hanson and assistant coach Ashley Walz. (Photo by Becky Walz)
Turkey Valley girls basketball coach Steve Hoffert is bringing back nine letter winners for theTrojans, who are looking to make some noise this year – the kind that brings home banners in 2024-2025.
The Trojans played to a 7-15 mark and sixth place finish (6-10) in the Upper Iowa Conference a season ago, and the veteran bunch sports four returning starters this year.
While a conference championship and a state tournament berth is high on the to-do list for TV, the Trojans aim to take it one game at a time this year in order to pick up some speed and build some confidence early on.
“We are excited about this group of girls. We have a great nucleus of returning letter winners. We will have a good mix of height and quickness. We will have a lot of depth that we will use to our advantage. We will need to come to every practice and game with a positive attitude and willingness to put team goals before personal goals,” said Hoffert, now in his third year at TV as head coach after taking over for Carla Nymeyer.
“I’ve got nine returning letter winners. One, I played a lot of kids last year, but the purpose was for the next year – for this year,” said Hoffert.
Bella Stika, a sophomore forward who was the only starter on the floor to not return a year ago against Postville, scored eight points on 4-4 shooting against the Pirates. She came close to a triple double with 11 steals and nine rebounds.
“I really have four post players. We will work more on a four-out, one-in offense as the season progresses,” said Hoffert. “Most nights we will have a height advantage. We have to fight through the contact, get the ball up on the backboard and put it in.”
The Trojans were just 29 percent as a team last year and 19 percent from beyond the arc. TV also has some room to improve its free-throw percentage – which was below 50 percent (49.5).
Hoffert talked about his team’s circle-motion offense.
“We call it a ‘butt cut’ and we have the long cut,” said Hoffert. “The long cut’s that girl from the corner all the way up because all that action is going towards the basket. I’ll have a girl standing about 15 to 18 feet away, and she’s just gotta knock down that shot, and we have that capability.”
The coach indicated TV’s main goal is to force turnovers off its full-court trapping press and get easy layups underneath the hoop in its half-court set — outside shots made are an added bonus. If the perimeter shooting game starts to heat up and consistently drops shots – that puts defenses in a pickle as to which facet of TV’s game the opposing team ought to try and stop.
“All of our stuff, we want to go to the basket. We want to make the official decide if they’re fouls or not,” said Hoffert.
Bodensteiner is TV’s top returning scorer at seven points a game. She averaged more than five rebounds a tilt. Bodensteiner’s long-range artistry from beyond the arc helped her lead the team in three-pointers this past winter with 17. She also cracked the UIC honorable-mention team.
Steinlage clipped out to a 6.6 scoring average and was the team’s steal leader with 55. She also came up with 43 assists – also No. 1 on the team.
Schuchhardt is another athletic standout for TV and averaged 4.5 points to go along with 3.4 rebounds. Busta, a left-hander like Steinlage, provides height and rebounding ability. She grabbed three rebounds a game last year and averaged just over three points a contest.
TV junior forward Haylee Hanson is a valuable player off the bench that will surely start some games as well. She averaged 5.8 points per game and 5.5 rebounds along with 16 blocks – which led the team.
Emersyn Hoffert – a sophomore guard returning letter winner – notched 13 points on 6-8 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds against Postville.
Other letter winners back for TV are senior guard Ashlyn Busta and sophomore guard Hazel Nieman.
Also on Hoffert’s roster is junior Makinley Lutgen, sophomores Ellaney Bodensteiner, Ella Ives, Kendall Kuennen and Miyah Byrne, as well as freshmen Madalyn Vsetecka, Brynlee Hayek and Callie Busta.
Hoffert likes his team’s chances this year, and he mentioned that his squad is working well together and improving every day.
“So far our chemistry has been really good and the girls have been really supportive of each other,” said Hoffert. “They’re not afraid to pick each other up. They’re not afraid to share the basketball. They’re not afraid to communicate with each other.”
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