Photo by Kim Meyer-Bancroft Register/Swea City Herald Press: Front row: Shallie Walders, Alyssa Welbig, Ainsley Ulrich, Maisey Bierstedt, Alexis Cummings, Avery Walstead; back row: Danika Morphew, Samantha Hoye, Taylor Parsons, Natalie Walders, Ally Bruhn, Aslynn Sobolik, Bryn Nicoson, Macie Schueller, RaeAnn Leach.

ARMSTRONG – The ideal situation for any first-year head coach is retaining players from the year prior. Luckily for Loren Looft, the North Union High School girls basketball team returns a trio of talented individuals from a Warrior roster that posted a 15-9 record last season, giving him an immediate advantage when taking the reins of the program.

Headlining the remitting class is junior Ainsley Ulrich. The guard is coming off a spectacular season last winter, winning the Top of Iowa West Conference Player of the Year after averaging 19 points per game on 40% shooting from the field.

Junior guard Shallie Walders and junior forward Maisey Bierstedt complemented Ulrich in the starting lineup with solid scoring seasons of their own.

Walders finished the year on the Top of Iowa West All-Conference 2nd Team following her sophomore campaign of 10 points, five assists and 3.5 steals per game. Bierstedt’s All-Conference Honorable Mention stemmed from an 11.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game season.

“We are going to build around those three girls,” Looft said. “They all three were averaging in double figures for us. It’s a good way to start the team off. I was a junior high coach and had them then, so I know about their abilities and what they can do.”

While the departures of starting front court players Hannah Neilsen and Ava Steinberger hurt the overall experience of the team, Looft is confident in the handful of individuals stepping into bigger roles on varsity.

Looft plans to slide junior guard Alexis Cummings and junior forward Avery Walstead into the starting rotation, deploying a smaller lineup to spread opponents out and use the Warriors’ ball handling to their advantage.

“We want to play a little more up tempo than anything else,” Looft said. “We think we have good guards and can push the ball up the court. By pushing up, you are always going to be playing at an advantage, rather than in the half-court. …More or less, we just like to space the floor.”

Fans can expect a mix of defensive philosophies this season from the Warriors, depending on the matchup at hand.

Looft, who has typically run a man-to-man scheme in his past seasons, wants to keep opponents on their heels when on the offensive end of the floor. North Union will use full-court presses and match-up zone tactics throughout the season, leaning on its strong guard play to its favor.

“North Union is more of a zone team, and I lean more to man-to-man, but I’m going to do what works,” Looft said. “It’s stuff that we are going to work through [as the season progresses]. Working on trying to play some more man, but we have some tough teams in our conference. Some nights the matchups won’t be as good [for that scheme].”