Negaunee's Abby Nelson, front right, struggles with Westwood's Karlie Patron, center, for a rebound in the third quarter of their high school girls basketball game played at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. The Miners' Ielee Shiroda, left, looks for an opening to grab the ball. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

NEGAUNEE — Last season was definitely one of mixed results for the Negaunee girls basketball program/

The Miners rolled through the regular season, finishing undefeated at 20-0, but then they got to the district tournament where they were upset by Westwood, derailing what could’ve been a deep postseason run.

“It was exciting to accomplish an undefeated regular season, but I think if everybody had to do it over again, we would trade that final game we had to not have that,” Negaunee head coach Brandon Sager. “We had some ups-and-downs, but all in all, it was a good experience. We brought a new player into our program (Natalie Bartle) and everybody had to adjust. All in all, anytime you can go 20-0 in a regular season is a great accomplishment, but I think if we could do it over again, we would rather change things.

“There’s a good core of girls returning that went through that experience. For the most part, I think the group that we have combining with them, everybody saw some frustration with some of the ways some things went last year. I think this group is a lot closer and they really gel well on and off the court. They love to hang out with each other. It’s a different team than we had last year, so I think things are going to be different with how things flow on the floor for us.”

Sager sees Abby Nelson, Chloe Norman and Hannah Voskuhl as his leaders this year and that all three have been putting in the time to improve their skills. Kenzie Karki and cross country runner Emily Paupore could also play big roles for the Miners.

“Obviously, Abby is a 4-year starter,” Sager said. “She’s put in a lot of dedication and really matured through this whole process. Last year was a big time for her to kind of move through some areas and she’s really taken on a leadership role. Chloe has made some great strides in the offseason to get where we’ve hoped she would always get to. She has some setbacks earlier in her career, but she’s really stepped forward. Hannah is going to run the point for us this year and she had a really good summer for us. We have a lot of other players that are going to play some key roles. Kenzie has come in ready to go from day one this season. Emily is making that transition from running to basketball and she’s a tenacious defender and the ultimate competitor. So she’s going to give ourselves a lot of good things this season.”

The Miners lost two key guards in Bartle and Clara Johnson, with Bartle making the UPSSA All-U.P. Dream Team and Johnson making the Class ABC First Team. Both of them are playing NCAA Division II basketball this season with Bartle at Colorado Mesa and Johnson at Michigan Tech.

So right now, Negaunee is lacking a true star player to take charge. However, what they may lack in pure basketball talent, they make up for it in having quality all-around athletes. All things considered, this could be a quality season for Negaunee.

“From a true basketball skills standpoint, this is probably one of our lesser teams in that regard, but as far as the overall athletes, this is probably our most athletic team,” Sager said. “We can kind of use that to our strength. We went from two Division II guards that could score when we needed them to, and now, there’s not going to be that one person that’s necessarily a go-to scorer, but the girls understand that very well.

“A lot of people see that we lost seven seniors and maybe two of the better guards who’ve ever played in our program, but they’ve kind of passed the torch and that’s how things have been rolling for a few years now. The culture that we have here is kind of “the next man up” and the girls do a good job of understanding that. This senior class, some of them waited their turn and they’re ready to make an impact on the program and then eventually, pass that on to the next year coming.”

Negaunee girls

2018-19 schedule

All times Eastern

Dec. 4 — Escanaba, 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 7 — at Houghton, 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 11 — at Marquette, 7:20 p.m.

Dec. 14 — at Hancock 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 18 — L’Anse, 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 20 — at Ishpeming, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 4 — Manistique, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 8 — at West Iron Co. 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 15 — at Gwinn, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 18 — Westwood, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 21 –Ishpeming, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 25 — at Iron Mount., 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 29 — at Gladstone, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 5 — Calumet, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 7 — Iron Mountain, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 12 — Gwinn, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 15 — at Westwood, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 19 — Marquette, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 26 — Gladstone, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 28 — at Manistique, 7:30 p.m.