Season Preview: Young Kodiaks look to grow fast

After a difficult 2024-25 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) season for the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks women’s basketball team, coach Ken McMurray is optimistic heading into 2025-26.

“It was a tough season and there were a lot of growing pains for the girls,” said McMurray. “I have five of them back and eight rookies so we’re kind of rebuilding again and we’ll see how far we can take it this year.”

Kodiaks posted an 8-13 record last season with two of those losses coming via forfeit after the team used an ineligible player who was redshirting. The player, who was trying to help out as the Kodiaks didn’t have a full lineup, hadn’t completed the proper paperwork making her ineligible, resulting in the forfeits.

“It was kind of a black eye and it took a long time for them to make a ruling on that,” said McMurray of the ACAC. “By the time they made the ruling we were kind of out of the race to make the playoffs.

“We had a young team last year and I lost Courtney Deemter in the second semester as she finished her program and headed to Calgary. Losing her was a big challenge because she was an all-star the year before.”

The Kodiaks’ recruiting class shows great promise with several local players coming from winning high school programs.

“I’m optimistic,” said McMurray. “I think they have lots of potential and I think their learning curve is very steep and they’re picking things up very quickly. I’ve seen a ton of improvement from the start of the year to now already.

“I’m also a realist, too, knowing that the ACAC is pretty tough. We have a tough schedule to start, we start on the road quite a bit, so it’s going to be a tough battle, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m having a great time with the girls, I love their chemistry and they get along super well and that’s half the battle.”

Leading the recruiting class are five-foot-11 forward Summer Long (first year, General Arts and Science, Raymond) and six-foot forward Yar Briar (first year, General Arts and Science, Immanuel Christian).

“Summer was a good pickup,” said McMurray. “She was a three-time provincial 4A champion with Raymond and she’s fitting in very well, and she’s also playing very well.

“Yar’s team won a provincial championship at the 2A level. She’s tall and athletic and she’s pretty raw, but she has lots of potential.”

Joining them are five-foot-10 forward Zoe Michelson (first year, General Arts and Science, Stirling) and five-foot-11 post Ava Michelson (first year, General Arts and Science, Stirling).

“The Michelsen girls are twins and they come from a program that’s usually pretty strong,” said McMurray. “They have high IQs for the game so I’m pretty excited about that.”

Other newcomers include five-foot-seven point guard Gianna Gammie (second year, General Arts and Science, Nanton), who played with the Medicine Hat Rattlers last season, five-foot-seven shooting guard/forward Kaycee Tallman (first year, General Arts and Science, Lethbridge Collegiate Institute) and five-foot-five point guard Jayla Hudson (first year, General Arts and Science, Barnwell).

“The recruiting was strong, it’s just they’re rookies and so it’s going to take a while to get them where we want them to be,” said McMurray.

The returnees McMurray will be counting on will be led by five-foot-10 shooting guard Bailey Blackmore (second year, Bachelor of Nursing, Magrath).

“Bailey is in her second year of Nursing and she had a really good year last year,” said McMurray. “She was this close to being rookie of the year and she’s starting out strong.”

Five-foot-10 guard Chase Wells-Creighton (second year, Exercise Science, Kainai High School) is returning as a starter along with five-foot-nine shooting guard Nyomi Heins (second year, Therapeutic Recreation, Immanuel Christian).

Rounding out the veterans are five-foot-nine shooting guard Gaby Power (fourth year, Early Childhood Education, Calgary), five-foot-10 post Gabby Graves (second year, Bachelor of Nursing, Raymond) and five-foot-six guard Paighton Kumson (third year, Correctional Studies, Edmonton).

“I like our length this year, so we have the ability to rebound a lot better than we did last year,” said McMurray. “We can play a little bit more up tempo because I think we have the big girls that can get up and down the court quickly. That’s the kind of style we’ll try to play.”

McMurray realizes a large task awaits as the season begins Oct. 18 at Concordia University in Edmonton.

“I just want to see how far we can take these girls,” he said. “It’s always a goal to try to make the playoffs out of the South.

“St. Mary’s made it to the national championship game last year and they have their nucleus back, so they’re going to be tough. SAIT is always strong and Briercrest had a really good run last year and I understand they have a lot of their kids back, too. It’s going to be a tough league.”