Photos courtesy of Ruth Klossner Brooke Skrien attracts a double team when attempting to make a pass in a recent game in Nicollet against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton.

NICOLLET — New head coach, new teammates, new year.

Over halfway through the season, the Nicollet girls’ basketball team has been handling several different challenges along the way, with an 8-7 record and 3-3 Valley Conference record to show for it as of Jan. 24.

Before the season began, Nicollet was informed that the Mankato Loyola girls would be joining up with them for at least the next two seasons. So far, the Loyola girls have been a welcome addition to a Nicollet squad that lost 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound club member Natasha Young to graduation in 2017.

First-year head coach Sarah Rosenau was excited to see what the Loyola girls would bring to the table at the start of the season. And now she has been able to see how the new connection is paying off.

“They bring a different style of play, a quicker style,” Rosenau said of the Loyola girls. “A style that I, as a fan and coach, love to see. I enjoy watching fast breaks and beating opponents up the floor. Loyola brought some quick guards that are really great defensively. They go for the steals and create turnovers that allow us to the push the pace more this season. They are all really great at handling the ball too, so that helps us out offensively in that our opponents can’t just focus on shutting one girl down. They can all take the ball up the floor and they all have great shots.”

There were some initial questions at the beginning of the year when it came to how things would all work out, but many of those questions have been getting answered already.

“I was excited when we found out we were joining with Loyola for basketball,” senior guard Brooke Skrien said. “I was one of the girls that pushed for it to go through because I knew Loyola had strong players and that they would be great assets to our team. The only concern I had was how well we would gel together because none of us really knew each other, so I wasn’t sure how personalities would be.

“I think us joining with Loyola has been a great decision,” Skrien said. “The girls from Loyola are great ball players, and they added numbers we needed for our basketball program. They are super nice, and I feel like we all come together on and off the court and it’s made it a super fun season.”

Grace Dehen, a junior guard that came over from Loyola, agreed with Skrien’s sentiments.

“I was excited for how we were going to come together as a team,” Dehen said. “I knew that we had some really good, strong players, and I was excited to see us work together and hopefully, be successful.”

Skrien is leading the Raiders with 12.9 points per game, while Dehen is putting up 12.8 points per game.

But along with the challenge of continuing to build a strong team chemistry, Nicollet has also had the unpleasant task of having to deal with the injuries of two key players.

Kaitlyn Frutiger, a 6-foot-2 senior forward from Loyola, was lost for the season on Jan. 4 with a torn ACL. Frutiger had been averaging 8.7 ppg and pulling in 6.1 rebounds per game as one of the new leaders for the Raiders.

Sidney Botker, a junior guard from Loyola, suffered a shoulder injury on Jan. 12 and is also out for the remainder of the season. Botker was known for her defensive prowess and ability to be a thorn in the side of her opponents with her quickness.

She was averaging 6.9 ppg and 2.2 steals per game.

The Raiders are currently 0-3 without Frutiger and 0-1 without Botker.

“Both girls were really great defensively,” Rosenau said. “They looked for steals and were smart on defense. We lost a great post in Frutiger. She was playing at her peak with being one of our top rebounders — especially on offense — and being a big inside threat scoring-wise. Losing Botker takes away a defensive threat. She is really quick and is always looking to go after loose balls. She is also one that pushes the pace on offense and is good at driving the lanes.

“From here on out we need to focus on rebounding and taking smart shots on offense,” Rosenau said. “We can’t be one and done. The team as a whole needs to crash on offense and really fight for rebounds.”

Skrien and Dehen have also been viewed as leaders this year for Nicollet and have gotten the chance to improve their game off of the new connection.

“Grace and I work well on the court together,” Skrien said. “She finds open spots on the court to get a shot off and I feel like when we need to be scoring, she’s our go-to for 3s. She takes smart shots, but she’s also an unselfish player.”

“It’s super fun to play with her [Skrien],” Dehen said. “She’s a great basketball player. She’s athletic, tall and she’s good at scoring and rebounding. She’s just able to find us with the ball and helps us be successful.”

Skrien and Dehen will have to continue being strong leaders for Nicollet in order to carry on a winning season, especially after the tough losses of Frutiger and Botker. And regardless of the injuries, the guard-driven Raiders (nine active guards) will have to soldier on in a Valley Conference led by Martin County West (11-3, 7-0 as of Jan. 24).

Even if the tasks are now taller, Nicollet fans will surely hope to see a winning trend continue.