As the opening game quickly approaches for the West Central Valley Girls Basketball Team, Head Coach Dan Druivenga will be relying on several upperclassmen who played big roles a year ago.

Junior Addilyn Richter, plus seniors Talia Williams and Macy Long were three players from the 2024 squad that saw good minutes, as he’ll be leaning on them to lead the charge this year. Druivenga details each one of them has made great strides coming in the 2025-26 season.

“When we were doing a simple press break, some of the older kids were saying ‘this is where you go, and this is how you read things,’ and so on. It’s always fun to watch the students become the teacher and help out the younger kids.”

As a sophomore, Richter appeared in 22 of the 23 games, scoring 155 points, which was second on the team, with Williams and Long each tallying over 80 points on the year in 20 games in 2024. The Panthers begin the new season on Monday in Stuart, as they welcome in Creston at 6pm.