Three returning starters will help lead YME

BY TOM ELLIOTT West Central Tribune

GRANITE FALLS — The Yellow Medicine East girls basketball season holds much promise, mostly because of the return of three starters, including All-Camden Conference South Division players Ruby Bones and Hannah Stark.

Bones, Stark and Stella Schuler form the core of what the Sting hope to be a great season.

Bones and Stark plan to continue their athlete careers in college. Bones, a 6-foot senior forward, is headed to Division II Minnesota State-Moorhead for volleyball after this season. Bones averaged 12.3 points per game, shooting 43% from the field, with 6.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Stark, a 5-10 senior forward, is headed to Briar Cliff, an NAIA-affiliated college in Sioux City, Iowa. Stark averaged 12.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. She shot 33% from 3-point range, making 44 of 131 attempts from long range.

YME junior Stella Schuler (12) launches a 3-pointer over ACGC’s Elli Roemeling during a non-conference game Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, at Granite Falls.

Joe Brown / West Central Tribune

Add in Schuler, a 5-6 senior guard who averaged 9.0 points and 3.2 rebounds a game, and it’s easy to see why the Sting have high hopes in 2022-23.

YME was 13-11 last season, going 7-9 in the Camden South. The biggest loss from that squad was Shelby Mortenson, who averaged 20.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. She’s now playing for the University of Minnesota-Morris, an NCAA Division III school.

Players to watch include freshman guard Hope Stark and senior guard Gracie Kleven.

“Hope works extremely hard and has put a lot of time in,” said Ryan Schultz, who begins his fifth season as YME’s head coach. “She is athletic and has a nice skill set. We expect her to have a good year.”

Hope Stark averaged 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game last season.

“Gracie is an athletic senior who didn’t play last year, with a lot of potential,” Schultz said. “We expect her to have a nice role.”

YME junior Ruby Bones pokes the ball away from ACGC’s Ruby Klinger during the first half of a non-conference game Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, at Granite Falls.

Joe Brown / West Central Tribune