Winning a state championship is every athlete’s goal. The sweat, hours upon hours of practice, and constant traveling prove it all worth it when your team finally gets to sport that championship trophy. Minnetonka Girls’ Basketball Team epitomizes this goal, as they just won the girls’ basketball state championship earlier this Spring.

Last March, The 21-4 Skippers defeated the 24-2 Hopkins Royals 61-52. The Skippers were led by Lizzie Odegaard (U-Milwaukee), Courtney Fredrickson (U-Wisconsin-Madison), and Chrissy Carr (Manhattan High, Kansas).

While they’ve lost several seniors since last season, they’re still working hard to defend their title this season.

Coach Dasovich is adamant that their goal is still to win, saying, “It is exciting but it almost feels like now we have to live up to it all the time. We set that expectation for ourselves, and now, not that we have to repeat it every year, but that’s what we have to strive for every year.”

When asked about the team dynamic, Megan Walker, ‘18, said, “It’s changed a lot, our scorers from last year have left [to college]. So we’re just having everyone step up into new roles and it’s been fun.”

It can be especially difficult for many underclassmen players that are on a varsity team that has just come off a State championship win, since expectations are high. However, when asked about the relationship between the upperclassmen towards their younger teammates, Sophomore Emma Baker said, “[The upperclassmen] have shown us how to be leaders and how to carry a team ever after all those seniors left. I think the biggest thing they showed us is how to persevere through challenges.”

While the team has just one senior this season, Kelsey Schmitz, the team has had several players who have stepped up into the leadership role.

When asked about the leaders on the team, Coach Dasovich said, “We only have one senior this year, Kelsey Schmitz, and she’s been patient as well as challenging to some of these kids. I think she’s a great listener and leader, and Megan [Walker] and Kayla [Mershon] ‘18 have been pretty patient too but also demanding that these young ones catch up as quickly as they can.”

These girls are clearly excited and ready to defend their title this year, and the only thing that’s left is to go cheer them on. All that you have to know about this team is that these girls got game.