Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Northwood enters its second year under the direction of head coach Vince Webb, and the Rangers feature an 11-player roster with just one senior and one junior along with nine underclassmen.
“We just want to grow and learn the game of basketball for those who are newer,” Webb said. “It’s not necessarily about winning, just competing. Obviously, we want to win some games too, but overall, I just want to be able to grow, so by the time these kids are juniors and seniors, we'll be a strong team at that point.”
Kadience Karmol is the team’s lone senior.
“There’s a lot of pressure on her unfortunately,” Webb said. “We’re trying to do the best we can to kind of take some of that off of her, but this will be her fourth year on the varsity floor, so she has a lot more experience. As far as she goes, she has to try to learn to understand what's going on and understand that everyone doesn't have that experience she has, so try not to get frustrated as far as that goes and try to keep her head up and push the younger girls to learn and grow.”
Even Northwood’s only junior, Marissa Gutenkunst, is a newcomer who is playing basketball for the first time since sixth grade, Webb said. Another newcomer, sophomore Olivia Eischen, is also playing for the first time in high school. The two are multi-sport athletes for the Rangers, although Eischen is opening the season with an injury.
“Olivia is very athletic,” Webb said. “We don't really know how she'll be in a game yet, and she didn't get to play in the scrimmages either.”
Two sophomores who did see time last year are Emily Reichow and Averey Perlaky. Webb said Reichow is a great defensive player, and Perlaky could be the team’s best offensive player.
“I put them in early in the year last season,” he said. “And then they were starting most of the games, so they have experience. I had seven seniors in my first year, but they got a lot of varsity time last year. They've grown from freshman year to this year for sure.
“Averey controls the ball better down low. Her defensive moves have gotten a little bit cleaner. Emily, on the defensive side, is starting to get a little bit better in understanding help side defense and knowing where to be instead of being all over the place. She's kind of settling in on her position.”
As the season advances, Webb hopes to see his team move the ball better, attack the rim as they get more comfortable dribbling, and cut down on bad passes.
“(We’re working through) the IQ of basketball and knowing when to go back door, knowing when to space the floor, being in the right spots, and making the right choices,” he said. “We just want to compete and have fun, clean up mistakes, keep competing, keep working hard, and hopefully have a somewhat successful year.”
A big change for Webb this year is the addition of two new assistant coaches in former Lake High School standouts Michael Moon and Hayley St. John. They are his first hires after having an inherited staff last year.
St. John was an all-state player at Lake, graduating in 2021, before leading Owens Community College to an NJCAA Division III national championship as a freshman. She was also a JUCO All-American.
“Hayley has that collegiate background,” Webb said. “She kind of puts those expectations on the girls with what she did and what she had to do and how she had to get it done. Since she has that experience, she can try to dish that off to the girls and hopefully they think about it in that manner.”
Meanwhile, Moon joins the team with middle school and JV coaching experience. He is a 2010 Lake graduate, and it’s his first year at the varsity level.
“(I’m happy) to bring his experience as far as coaching, from seeing different things,” Webb said. “You know, as you get experience as a coach, you're able to grow, take each thing from each season and kind of attach that to the next. That helps with him.”
The Rangers will compete in the SBC’s River Division for the first time after departing the TAAC.
