COULEE CITY — The Almira/Coulee-Hartline girls basketball team is standing tall this year. Literally. 

“We have height. When I went to high school here we didn't have height. I was the tallest,” said head coach Nikki Strock, who was listed as 5 feet 10 inches when she played basketball for Eastern Oregon University. “So it's cool to see 6-1, 5-11, whatever it is. Our guards are very undersized, but they make up for it in speed.” 

It’s a tall squad, and yet a small one, only 14 girls total, Strock said. And of those, only one is a senior, with two juniors. So the team isn’t exactly brimming with experience. 

But one of those juniors is Naomi Molitor, Strock said, and that makes a difference. 

“She’s only 5-3 but she plays like she’s 5-7,” Strock said. “She’s unreal. Fast, can finish well, great decision-making.” 

Molitor has been playing basketball for ACH since eighth grade, she said, so she knows the ropes pretty well. 

“I think we can go pretty far this year,” she said. 

The biggest thing Molitor sees that needs work this season is being more aggressive on offense. 

“Sometimes we can get caught just passing the ball around, and we more need to score,” she said. 

Senior Emma Whitaker agreed. 

“We need to be more confident,” Whitaker said. “Like we need to have swagger. We're too timid. I feel like we try to just be nice girls, not beat up on the other team.” 

Having a young team could be a liability, but the younger ones are benefiting from the upperclassmen’s experience, Whitaker said. 

“We lost some pretty valuable players last year,” she said. “We don't have many upperclassmen, but I think that our leadership will step up. We have some freshmen and sophomores that I think will step up and fill roles that we had last year that we might not have as strong this year.” 

Strock was born and raised in Coulee City and graduated from ACH, she said, and played basketball both there and at college, but being in charge is kind of a learning experience, she said. 

“I've never been a head coach before,” she said. “What is my coaching style? I've been on quite a few coaching staffs, I've played for a lot of years, but I don't know how the girls are gonna react. I don't know how the transition is gonna be to a new coach … To come back to the community that I grew up in, it's a true blessing. It's really cool and exciting.” 

    Josie Bayless takes a left-handed shot at the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors’ practice Nov. 20.
  

    Peyton Roberts and Lainee Baergen pin Emma Brummett at the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors’ practice Nov. 20.
  

    A double-teamed Emma Brummett looks to pass to Emily Evers at the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors’ practice Nov. 20.