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Sports
By Patrick Browne
The Forest Park Lady Trojans (5–8) are a young team that is starting to play well together. With just two seniors, Lauren Kudwa and Charlie Larson, the team has a bright future and have all the requisites to be an exciting team.
As the pieces fall into place under Coach Kim Bjork, the victories are materializing. In their most recent four games, the Trojans demonstrated what their future could be by winning three of their four games and scoring an average of 54 points.
Victories over North Central (51–26), North Dickinson (53–43) and Stephenson (59–50) saw the Trojans winning three games in a row in the same week for the first time in two years.
Coach Bjork is excited to see the team winning: “It feels good to get three wins in one week!”
Led by sophomore guard Elsie Williams who scored a season high 31 points in the victory against Stephenson, the Trojans handle the ball well. Williams is supported by freshman Vienna Price who is a strong dribbler and junior Kaidince Woollard both of whom can sink the outside shot and are developing confidence in their ability to take the ball to the paint.
With strength under the boards in sophomores Jessie Loehr and Ava Fischer, the Trojans battle for every rebound. Loehr is a regular contributor who has the ability to have a breakout game as evidenced in her 15 points against North Dickinson and 12 points against North Central. Fischer, an impressive multisport athlete, who refuses to shy away from any opponent, adds confidence in the Trojans’ second chance opportunities.
As a young team, the Trojans are still subject to off nights when the team cannot find their rhythm. After winning three in a row, the Trojans took on the Knights of Norway (7–6) on Jan. 22. Despite having beaten Norway by a score of 47–34 earlier in the season, the Trojans, in the words of their coach, “Couldn’t buy a bucket. We created a lot of turnovers but couldn’t score off of them. It just wasn’t our night.”
The Trojans lost the game 37–27, scoring just half the number of points they scored just one week earlier. Shooting just 15% from the floor, the team sank just 10 of 67 shots.
Most coaches know that if you can find a group of players who want to play and work well together, good things will happen. Fifth-year coach Kim Bjork has found that group of players.
Junior Guard Kaidince Woollard summed up the energy the Trojans are bringing to the court.
“I think we are all getting along and we have better communication and teamwork than we did before,” Woollard said. “We talk before every practice and set a goal for the day. We all want to keep up the energy and win some more games.”