CMB girls searching for answers after unfortunate injuries to top returners

Losing a three-year starter to graduation was bad enough for Collins-Maxwell/Baxter girls’ basketball coach Jamie Zabel.

Getting the news he may not have two of his top returning players for the entire season is about as bad as it gets.

It won’t do any good for Zabel to dwell on it though. Injuries happen in sports, and all Zabel can do now is work with the hand that he has been dealt.

Lexi Breon was the Raiders’ point guard for the past three seasons and was a first-team all-Heart of Iowa Conference player last year. She graduated.

Sophomore Brianda Bane would have been the team’s top returner after leading the team in scoring (12.6) and rebounding (9.2) last season. However, she tore an ACL and will likely miss the entire season after earning second-team all-conference honors a year ago.

Senior Bridget Hurley’s final year also is in doubt after she tore her labrum. Hurley could play this season, but when and if she becomes available is still unknown.

“We are missing 65 percent of our offense right now,” Zabel said. “We can’t do much about it. We just have to move on. Hopefully, we can rally around them and get things going.”

The challenge for Zabel now is to figure out who to play where. Bane and Hurley were going to be a big part of CMB’s backcourt, but now senior Carter Larson has to move from inside to outside to compensate for the injuries.

That still leaves questions at point guard. Breon was a stalwart at that position for three years and averaged 11.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and led the team in assists last year. She’ll be replaced by a host of Raiders, including sophomore Sailor Hinegardner and juniors Sydney Ziesman and Megan Ritter.

The Raiders took on Perry in their annual jamboree at North Polk earlier this season. They struggled, at times, getting the ball up the floor and getting into their offensive sets.

That doesn’t bode well for CMB’s strength, which could be inside with junior forwards Mikayla Eslinger and Kathleen Baldwin.

“We need to figure out the guard positions. Our post players are pretty solid,” Zabel said. “We have to figure out who to play where. I ran 11 people out there to see who works well together.”

CMB went 5-17 overall last year and finished 5-13 in HOIC play. The Raiders won’t win many high-scoring games, but Zabel hopes defense, rebounding and toughness will go a long way in the new season.

Hurley, an honorable mention all-conference selection last season, was third on the team in scoring at six points per game. Her eight rebounds per game was second to Bane and she was third on the team in assists.

Zabel is hoping to get Hurley back in early December but is preparing to play a good chunk of the season without her.

The Raiders were supposed to have four returning starters and a host of players who were looking to take that next step up the competition ladder.

Instead, those new players will now be expected to start and play significant minutes.

“We have to find a bench. We have experience, but they need to get out there and play,” Zabel said.

Fortunately for the Raiders, outside of defending conference and state champion Nevada, the rest of the league is in a bit of a reboot mode, too.

“I will be happy if we win 10-12 games,” Zabel said. “That’s where we are at right now.”