It’s not exactly the second half of the girls’ basketball season for the Greene County Rams, but the break for the holidays is a good time to assess, get practice time, and try to improve. That’s the goal of Coach Tori Ogden’s Rams, who will begin the 203 portion of the season at home at the high school in Jefferson vs. Webster City on Monday, Jan. 2. The Lynx are 1-7 and the Rams are 0-8. It’s a girl/boy doubleheader on KG98 and streamed on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com with coverage at 5:45 p.m., the girls starting at 6, with the boys to follow.

Esther Van Horn is a junior on the girls’ team. Listed at 4′ 8″, she told Raccoon Valley Radio she let her lack of height deter her. “I’ve never let my height define me and I’ll always go up against anyone.” She sited the opening tip vs. West Marshall (State Center) and U. of Northern Iowa recruit Katy Ryerson, who is listed at 6′ 2″. “She’s such a good athlete and we knew we weren’t going to win the tip, so we thought to put me in.”

Looking toward improvement, Van Horn said, “We look to do better than we did in the first half. We always want to push ourselves and outdo ourselves. Maybe if we’re having a bad first half, we maybe don’t focus on doing better than them, but doing better than ourselves.” She’s played in every game and is averaging about two points per contest.