Without Brianna Mueller, the ADM girls basketball team wouldn’t have gone very far last season. As a sophomore, Mueller lead the team with 10.3 points per game.

That final statistic is slightly misleading, however, because Mueller started last season off slowly before finding her good form toward the end of the year. She attributed those opposing stretches to her confidence level, and says that’s the determining factor for how she’ll play this season.

“It definitely is, I think. When I wasn’t quite confident in myself in the beginning of the year, it showed,” Mueller said. “I wasn’t putting up as many points or making the best plays or anything, really. And then once I had one good game, it just kind of steamrolled from there.”

Now a junior, Mueller will be counted on for even more production. First year head coach Corey Schneider praised several aspects of Mueller’s game, while saying the next step in her development centers around improving her shooting stroke.

“She’s very aggressive. She’s a very good defender as well. Offensively, she’s more of a slasher,” Schneider said. “We’re working on her to pull up a little bit more. She’s got a pretty good shot. I don’t think necessarily from what I’ve seen she uses it enough, so that’s a work in progress there. And she’s going to be asked to handle the ball for us some, too, so she’s going to play a big role in this as well.”

Mueller and the rest of the Tigers play their lone official exhibition of the preseason on Thursday at Creston as part of the Girls Varsity Jamboree.