This winter’s Steamboat Springs girls basketball program is a roster with roughly half of its makeup freshmen, and with just three seniors on the team, there will be a lot of new faces on the court this season. 

The three returning upperclassmen are Hailey Bender, Talyn Anderson and Mahlet Vanblarcum, who will be back on the court this year after missing nearly the full 2023-24 season due to injury. Joining them once again is junior Naomi Baumgartner, who also saw significant playing time on the varsity team last year. 

The first practice of the season was Nov. 18 and head coach Shawn Baumgartner said the focus has since been on preseason basics.

“Lots of shooting and incorporating our defense,” he said. “A lot of emphasis defensively and taking pride in playing really tough defense. That’s where we’ve been at lately.”

Last season, the girls managed a 6-16 record on the season despite a six-game losing streak to open the year. Coach Baumgartner said this season, the focus will surround working on a progression and seeing consistent improvement from the first practice to the very last game. 

“Our emphasis this year and our motto going into the season is to get better every day,” he explained. “Coming into practice, make that day better than the day before. That has been our emphasis and probably will be that goal throughout the season.” 

Thursday will mark the first official test of the season for the Sailors who travel to a tournament at Roaring Fork High School. The three day tournament begins with a matchup against Grand Valley. 

The following weekend will be the girls’ home tournament, the Steamboat Shootout, which begins Dec. 12 against Berthoud. Baumgartner said he is excited to see the girls back in action this week and can not wait to see how the girls improve throughout the season.

“I think everybody is really excited to start this year off,” Baumgartner said. “Last year, with it being my first year and bringing in a whole new system, it has been fun to watch the girls grow from the end of last season through this summer and see where we are at right now. Having that year under our belt, I think for everybody, has been really good. We are really excited just to see where we are at to start this off next Thursday.”