New direction for ‘Jay girls hoops
By Casey Krautkramer
The Athens varsity girls basketball team looks almost completely different this season. The team welcomes new head coach Mike Baer while returning only two starting players from last year in senior guard Danica Diethelm and senior post Bailey Hanke.
Baer describes his previous basketball coaching experience and what motivated him to take the Athens varsity girls basketball head coaching job.
“I was a varsity basketball head coach in both Montana and South Dakota,” he said. “In addition, I have been an assistant varsity coach and a junior high girls and boys coach at different places. In total, I have coached basketball for roughly 10 years. The Athens coaching position was still available in August when I was hired as the new school counselor. Having a new job in the Athens School District, I applied for the coaching job because my daughter, Ellis Baer, is on the team. I have coached other sports too for a total of over 20 years. Coaching sports is one of the things I enjoy about education.”
Mike Baer outlines his coaching philosophies.
“I want to turn our defense into offense by pressing and creating turnovers,” he said. “Once in the half court we will play man-to-man defense. Our offense should run through our defense, but we have half court offensive sets to handle whatever defenses we may see.”
Last year’s Athens varsity girls basketball season ended with a 4537 loss to Pittsville in a WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal in Merrill. The Bluejays shot a cold 38 percent from the floor against the Panthers. Mike Baer hopes his coaching philosophies will help deter cold shooting games this season.
“Cold shooting happens so using our defense to create more offensive opportunities including layups can help that,” he said. “I always tell my kids, if we aren’t going to shoot well, we better shoot a lot. We practice shooting and layups a lot, and we will continue to get as many shots up in practice as we can. The more you shoot, the better you get.”
Athens’ top returning players this season besides starters Diethelm and Hanke are senior guard Brianna Sheahan and junior Ava Ford who Mike Baer said “can pretty much play anywhere on the floor.” They are both returning varsity letter winners and are starting for the team this season. Mike Baer said senior McKenzie Belter would have started too but she is recovering from an injury. Ellis Baer is currently starting in her place. Mike Baer describes the following top newcomers, besides Belter and Ellis Baer, to the varsity team who should receive playing time this season: Junior post Katelynn DenOtter and junior guards McKenna Lepak and Vanessa Espinoza-Quiroz.
“I truly hope we can play even more girls than that in varsity games,” he said.
He outlines the team’s goals this season. “Getting a late start, having lost some very talented seniors and implementing a new philosophy will take time,” Mike Baer said. “Our goal is to go into every game with a positive attitude, become the best teammates we can be and to compete. The rest will take care of itself.”
Athens began the 2024-25 season on Nov. 21 with a 54-22 home win against Abbotsford. It was a great start for the new head coach.
“It was a good matchup to get our nerves out,” Mike Baer said. “We are playing an entirely different system and style. It wasn’t smooth by any stretch, but the intensity and effort were there and as we continue to play things will iron themselves out. We had nine girls score and play pretty consistent defense all night. Bailey Hanke had a quiet 14 points, Brianna Sheahan really shot well and got us off to a good start in the first half. Ava Ford had a great all-around game with 11 points, 13 rebounds and four steals. We have a lot to work on but we aren’t starting from the bottom, so there seems to be unlimited potential.” Athens has lost four straight games since its season-opening win against Abbotsford, which is going to happen when a team like the Bluejays has a new head coach and three new starting players.
ATHENS VARSITY GIRLS BASKETBALL - Introducing the 2024-25 Bluejays girls varsity basketball squad. Players pictured, from left to right, front row are Yiret Alejo-Herrera, Grace Schreiner, McKenna Lepak, Vanessa Espinoza, Ellis Baer, Brianna Sheahan and McKenzie Belter; back row: Delaney Beasley, Ava Erickson, Ayva Haehlke, Katy DenOtter, Danica Diethelm, Itzel Espinoza-Quiroz, Baily Hanke and Ava Ford.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
Mike Baer
