The best is yet to come for coach Jeff Schultz and his consistently persistent Superior Lady Cats.

Shaking off the holiday rust, the Cats opened play in 2026 by defeating Mineral County rival Alberton 59-14 in Superior Saturday. Now 2-1 in 14C action and 3-2 overall, Schultz and the Cats get back to work this week, playing at Hot Springs Tuesday before hosting Troy Friday and Two Eagle River Saturday.

“We respect Hot Springs, Kara Christensen is one of the premier players in our conference and she has some good players around her,” Schultz said. “They are a tough team, especially in their place. We’ll have to see what we can do.”

Schultz said he also expects competitive games with both Troy and Two Eagle as well, noting that both teams have been playing well so far this season.

Schultz’s girls showed what they can do in the win over Alberton, and that appears to be sharing the wealth as all Superior’s players saw extensive action and sharing the ball as 11 Lady Cats ended up scoring.

As usual this season, junior Josie Crabb led the Lady Cats with 17 points against the Panthers, Makenzie Reum added 13, Maryisa Swope eight, Lily Jasper five, Ava White four, Kamryn Church three, Mady Neu, Madi Allard, Maggie Haworth and Perri Jasper two apiece and Kaydi Erickson one.

Marley Fredette led Alberton with eight points, and Willa Fredette, Peyton Liudauca and Breanna Turnce added two each.

“Alberton is a very young team that is only going to get better,” Schultz said. "They have the potential to be very good in a few years.”