Johnston’s girls basketball season delayed, but big goals haven’t changed
JOHNSTON, Iowa (BVM) — It has been almost 10 months since the Johnston girls basketball team was able to go out and compete.
Over the last six weeks, the Dragons have had to postpone the start of their season, missing eight games. And when they face Valley at home on Jan. 5, it will be a lot different than the last game they played.
The Dragons were one of the final teams to play prior to the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the country. In front of 10,000 fans at the Wells Fargo Arena, Johnston won their first-ever girls basketball state championship.
“You couldn’t ask for a better atmosphere for those kids to play in front of,” Dragons head coach Chad Jilek said.
Only a week later, the pandemic put the end to large fan attendance at games.
Through summer basketball and other high school sports, the players have seen what no fans at sporting events are like, but Jilek still knows it will feel different.
“The drive is going to have to come from us,” Jilek said.
While they work on making sure the players are prepared for no fans, Johnston is also hard at work to just be ready for its first game of the season.
“It’s been tricky,” Jilek said.
Only a week into practice, Johnston High School went to online learning and sent the players home, unable to practice. Fortunately, a family in the Johnston community allowed the players to practice at their gym.
During that time, Jilek and the coaches were unable to meet with the girls and could only communicate electronically as the girls held player-led practices.
“That really helped when we had those player-led practices,” Jilek said. “We’ve had a lot of kids step up and take a leadership role.”
This was an important moment for the team as the Dragons lost their three best players and senior leaders to graduation last spring. With five seniors this year and many younger players who had had playing time last season, everyone was going to have to find how they would help lead the team.
Those practices also helped the girls form the chemistry a team needs to get through an unorthodox season as this one has already been. Even with the addition of four freshmen and a transfer student joining the team the girls have grown close.
“Everyone embraces everyone,” Jilek said. “They try to do as much as they can for each other.”
However, the team is still playing catch-up as they prepare for their first games of the season. Jilek and the coaching staff’s practice plans aren’t feasible as they have a race with time.
“Now it’s basically throw all that out of the window, we got a game in less than a week now and we’ve only got four practices in,” Jilek said.
Johnston is in a rush to get ready, especially because its schedule does not allow any wiggle room. After opening up against Valley, the Dragons have a rematch of last year’s state title game against Waukee, a game Southeast Polk and a game against Dowling Catholic.
It’s a tough way to start a season when you already feel somewhat unprepared, but the Dragons are used to it. All these teams are their conference rivals in the Central Iowa Metro League – Central and perennial powerhouses in basketball.
“It’s fun and it’s a gauntlet,” Jilek said. “If we’re not playing well or you’re not focusing in practice, you’re not going to roll over these guys.”
The Dragons welcome it and are ready. They know what it means to play for the Dragons and the expectations that come along with that. Even more so, this group of players has many returning from their state championship team, a team that was so confident in their abilities that they called their shot.
“The girls came to me after the regional final and said kind of nonchalantly, ‘We’re going to win the state championship coach,’” Jilek said.
Those girls are still on this team and even with the tough start to the season, they don’t view it as an excuse. Whether it’s four practices or no practices, once tip-off of the Valley game happens, the goal is the same as always: win and make it to the state championship.
“We lost three big pieces, but our expectation is still that we are back in the state tournament and you have the chance to be the first large school champs to repeat as state champs,” Jilek said. “We have the ability to do that, but it’s going to take work.”
