Mar 24, 2023 12:12 AM

Notre Dame teams wrap up successful seasons

Posted Mar 24, 2023 12:12 AM

Above: Burlington Notre Dame’s girls basketball team had balanced scoring all season, but junior Lauren Krieger (15) emerged as the team leader with 345 points. Krieger goes up against defenders for Iowa City Regina, which qualified for state this year. The Nikes will lose three seniors from its South division runner-up team, so Krieger and the rest of the Nikes will have to regroup.  Photo/Chris Faulkner

By Chris Faulkner

Burlington Notre Dame’s girls basketball was the picture of balance this past season, and they finished 18-7 overall and second in the South Division at 12-3.

Lauren Krieger emerged as the top scorer for the Nikes with 345 points in 25 games.

But in that 25-game season, the scoring difference between No. 2 Gabby Deery and No. 6 Taryn Stephens was just 111 points or 4.5 points per game.

Deery scored 270 points, Abby Korschgen 258, Anna Engberg 191, Maddy Mosena 190, and Stephens 159.

“Laura was our player that would do whatever it took to win the game,” Notre Dame coach Corey Stephens said. “There were a few games that she didn’t come off of the floor the entire game.”

Krieger will be back as a junior, as well as starters Anna Engberg and Taryn Stephens.

Nadiya Jones, a junior who played in 20 games, returns with some experience.

Notre Dame will lose Deery, Korschgen, and Mosena, who combined for 718 of the team’s 1,494 points. But the Nikes will miss more than the scoring.

“Abby was the voice of the team,” Stephens said. “She helped a lot of the younger players out this season.”

Stephens said Deery “turned her play up since Christmas break. She developed her turnaround jump shot and became a force in the middle.”

As for Mosena, “Maddy was a great defender,” Stephens said. “She might not have gotten a lot of steals, but she got a lot of deflections that turn into steals or points for us.”

The bench consisted of three sophomores and five freshmen.

“I thought that our girls worked hard in practice,” Stephens said of how the team improved during the season. He stressed that “all 16 girls put in the work and pushed each other to be better every single day. That is all I can ask for.”

The Nikes will miss Deery’s and Korschgen’s tall presence underneath the basket.

“We will be smaller. A lot smaller” next season, Stephens said. “Hopefully our underclassmen will develop more over the summer and be able to help out our four seniors next season.”

Notre Dame boys

As with the girls, Notre Dame’s boys basketball team finished second in the South Division at 11-3. They were 17-6 overall.

Notre Dame will lose six seniors, including 6-7 post player and leading scorer Carsen Jones — 290 points, 182 rebounds, and 12 blocked shots for 21 games.

The other two senior starters were Hunter Lillie and Matthew Booten, and Ethan Todd played in 20 games coming off the bench. Lillie averaged eight points a game, Booten six, and Todd just under five. Booten was second in rebounding with 108, and Lillie led the team in 3-pointers with 25 (34 percent).

Also graduating are Owen Gulick, who was injured at the start of the season and just played in four games, and Grant Boal.

Coach Dan Kies will return junior starters Liam Delaney and Spencer Brent.

Delaney averaged 13 points a game and had 81 rebounds, 44 assists, 31 steals, and five blocks. He committed just 14 fouls all season.

Brent took on a starting role when fellow junior Gedi Boal went down with a mid-season injury. Brent scored 133 points and was second on the team in assists with 57.

Other underclassmen who saw considerable action are juniors Caden Schwenker and Dylan Kipp and freshman Shay Stephens, who led the team in a 3-point shooting percentage at 39.4.

Varsity reserves and JV players eligible to return are juniors Lucas Johnson and Max Mansheim, sophomore Jack Drew and freshman Colby Booton.