Sleepy Eye fans are ready, the players are ready and the coaches are ready. Indians coach Ryan Hulke said that since his girls have been to state before, they know more of what to expect this time around. He said being back was rewarding, but he thinks that his team isn’t content with just getting back to state.

This time, they want more.

“Being back at the state tournament is great and exciting, but I think these girls want more,” Hulke said. “They want to win games and come home with some hardware. These ladies have put in a ton of time to get to the this point dating back to their youth days, so now it’s time to show what they can do.

“We’ve used the motto “Believe” all year and we now need to believe we are as good as the Mountain-Iron Buhls, Lyle/Pacellis and Ada-Borups because we are,” Hulke added. “We played Lyle to an 8-point game this summer and beat Mountain-Iron Buhl, so we need to believe we are a top Class A state team.”

The Indians will first take on No. 3-seeded Ada-Borup/Norman County West at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Williams Arena. Ada-Borup boasts a 27-2 record and are led by Mariah McKeever with 14.5 points per game, 4.5 assists per game and 4.2 rebounds per game.

Kora Kritzberger also helps lead the Cougars with 10.6 ppg and 6.1 rpg. The Cougars are averaging 63 ppg and allow 38.7 ppg. They shoot 46 percent from the floor and 30 percent from beyond the arc.

The Indians average 65 ppg and allow 45.7 ppg. They are shooting 45 percent from the floor and 37 percent from 3.

Madi Heiderscheidt, a senior who was forced to sit out during the last trip to state with a torn ACL, is excited to get a chance to help her squad at state this year and isn’t taking anything for granted.

“It’s been a lot of hard work,” Heiderscheidt said. “I’ve had a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but it definitely was all worth it. It’s all crazy to me, but it feels so good.

“I definitely take less for granted now — and honestly — it is win or go home for me and I take this jersey and turn it into the school if we lose,” Heiderscheidt said. “That’s what’s on the line … being with these girls, we’ve been together since we were in fourth grade, so this bond is something that will never be broken.”

Heiderscheidt leads the Indians with 22.1 ppg, 4.1 apg, 3.2 rpb and 4 steals per game.

Also for the Indians, Brianna Polesky is averaging 10.2 ppg and 4.6 rpg. Polesky, another senior leader for the Indians, will be looking to continue her strong play in hopes of extending her final season with the Indians as long as she can.

“It’s really special going to the state tournament your senior year,” Polesky said. “We want to go as long as we can because as seniors, we don’t want our season to end.”

Polesky said that this year’s team featured a lot of guards that can work the ball inside and out. She also said that her team was very well-rounded.

Mya Ibberson is another senior for Sleepy Eye that is looking to extend her final season. She averages 4.8 ppg and is second on the team in rebounds per game with 6 rpg.

“We’ve put a lot of time in on focusing on us, practice and making our strengths even stronger,” Ibberson said. “And we’ve been focusing on our connection as a team. We just have to keep working on ourselves and worry about the teams [at state] when we get to them.”

Sarah Ibarra and McKenzie Cselovszki are two other senior leaders for the Indians. Ibarra averages 9.9 ppg and leads the team in rebounds per game with 6.9 a game, while Cselovszki is averaging 7.5 ppg and 5 rpg.

If the Indians win their first game of the tournament on Thursday, they will play at the Target Center a 2 p.m. on Friday. Should the Indians lose on Thursday, they will play in the consolation bracket at noon on Friday.