Westwood’s Madelyn Koski puts up a shot against Iron Mountain on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, in Iron Mountain, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

ISHPEMING — Last year, the Westwood girls basketball team’s season was highlighted by the play of two talented guards and an upset of undefeated Negaunee in the first round of the Class C district tournament.

Those two guards (Madi Koski and Tessa Leece) are back this year and that’s just one sign that the Patriots are poised for a strong season.

“That was our most successful year in my tenure,” Patriots head coach Kurt Corcoran said. “It had been probably a decade since we reached the 15-win mark. We were strong, we weren’t necessarily tall, but we were big and strong and very athletic. We had a senior class of girls, who had won the districts in volleyball and were just a good bunch of athletes. We also had our two little young sophomore guards in Koski and Leece. I don’t want to say we underachieved because if you looked at our conference and our district, we had Negaunee, who was a powerhouse. You had Ishpeming, who had all those seniors and some went on to play college basketball this year. In my opinion, it was probably the toughest stretch of six miles in the state. It was a pretty tough conference and a pretty tough district. We were able to sneak one away from Ishpeming and obviously, we got the big one in the districts against Negaunee that everyone will always remember.

“We don’t have any seniors on the team (this year), so Madi and Tessa are the big dogs for the next two years. Karlie Patron is returning and Ellie Miller is returning. We have a couple new girls up from the JV and due to some low numbers, we had to pull another sophomore and another freshman up from JV. So with that being said, I expect only to build off of last year and build off the momentum of that Negaunee upset and set our eyes on the playoffs and hopefully, make a run.

The focus will be on Koski and Leece and for good reason as Koski made the UPSSA Class ABC First Team and Leece earned a spot on the Second Team. Corcoran said that Koski recently knocked down 132 straight free throws and competed in the Michigan Top Shooter Challenge free throw competition earlier this year, so she’s not someone opponents would want to put at the line. Leece, on the other hand, is deadly beyond the arc as she’s finished second at the Challenge in the 3-point competition for the second year in a row.

However, Corcoran said that Patron and Miller also add an element to the Patriots’ offense. He then added that Koski’s sister Jillian will be on the squad this year as a freshman.

“Karlie is entering her junior year and she’s a good athlete,” Corcoran said. “She has good court vision and she’s a natural talent. She tends to be good at just everything that she does. Ellie was up on the varsity last year and being a freshman can be really intimidating. You’re a 14-year old girl sometimes playing against grown 18-year-old women. She’s looking to increase her minutes, increase her points and her touches and kind of gain the confidence of Madi and Tessa so we can have a nice post presence this year as well.

“Jillian is a very skilled ball handler and she’s got a lot of knowledge. Every time Madi is in the gym, her sister is there with her. Being a freshman, you’ve got kind of a bullseye on you and the older girls are going to try to test you and see if you’re up for it. It will be a learning curve for sure. If anybody is up for it, I think Jillian is.”

All things considered, this could be a good year for Westwood and Corcoran thinks if everything goes the Patriots’ way, it will be.

“Years ago, when this junior class was little, we definitely circled this year as one to look out for,” he said. “Typical Westwood, we’re not very big, but we’re kind of quick. We’ve got some really skilled athletes who put in the time. They’ve been preparing for this season for a long time.”

Westwood girls

2018-19 schedule

All times Eastern

Dec. 4 — Menominee, 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 6 — L’Anse, 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 10 — Ishpeming, 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 11 — at West Iron C, 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 13 — at Manistique, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 18 — at Gladstone, 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 28 — Hancock, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 3 — at Calumet 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 8 — Gladstone, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 11 — Houghton, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 14 –at Iron Mount., 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 18 — at Negaunee, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 22 — Gwinn, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 25 — at Ishpeming, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 31 — Marquette, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 5 — Iron Mountain, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 8 — Manistique, 5:45 p.m.

Feb. 15 — Negaunee, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 21 — at Gwinn, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 28 — at Kingsford, 7:45 p.m.