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BOLD has a tough act to follow
BOLD sophomore Lainey Braulick drives the ball down the court during the Class A semifinal against Hayfield at Williams Arena in Minneapolis on Friday, March 17, 2023. Macy Moore / West Central Tribune
After a 2nd-place state finish, Warriors have a fine nucleus returning led by Lainey Braulick, Kenzie Visser and Rylee Boen
BY MICHAEL LYNE | West Central Tribune
OLIVIA — The BOLD girls basketball team enters the upcoming season coming off its best postseason in school history.
The Warriors made their first appearance in the Class A state title game, losing to Mountain Iron-Buhl. Their appearance at state also marked the third in the program’s history.
BOLD, which begins the 2023-24 season ranked No. 6 in Class A by Minnesota Basketball News, lost a few key pieces and returns some as well.
“After having a great postseason last season where we finished second in state, we are looking to compete at a high level every night,” BOLD head coach Brian Kingery said. “We have a lot of experience back from last year’s team and some young talent we need to step up.”
Lainey Braulick is BOLD’s biggest returning piece. The 5-foot-8-inch junior guard earned a plethora of accolades in her sophomore season.
Braulick was an All-Area First Team pick, a Class A All-Tournament Team selection, the West Central Conference’s most valuable offensive player of the year and was an All-WCC member.
In his third year as a starter, Braulick averaged 20.1 points and 5.1 steals per game in a 2022-23 season where she
surpassed 1,000 career points.
Also back as returning starters for the Warriors are seniors Kenzie Visser and Rylee Boen.
Visser, a 5-10 post, was a Class A All-Tournament Team pick, the WCC’s most valuable defensive player of the year and an All-WCC selection. She averaged 10.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, 2.1 steals and 1.0 assist per contest as a junior.
Boen is a 5-6 guard who averaged 3.7 points and 0.8 steals per game.
With the roster losses of Mari Ryberg — an All-Area Second Team pick and Class A All-Tournament Team member who averaged 13.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game — Anna Moorse and Lily Dean, the Warriors will look to a new crop of talent to help bring them success.
Some of those fresh crop of players that were noted as players to watch include: 5-9 senior forward Kenna Henriksen, 5-5 junior guard Layla Pfarr, 5-11 junior post Peyton Sander, 5-9 sophomore forward Kya Elfering and 5-5 eighth-grade guard Lilly Henriksen.
Kingery hopes these players can step up and help the Warriors stay competitive in the WCC and Section 2A.
“Our conference and section are both very talented, so we will have to play at a high level each night if we want to be successful,” Kingery said.
