Plymouth girls basketball could win the KLAA-West with Elena DiMaria's replacement.

Plymouth girls basketball could win the KLAA-West with Elena DiMaria’s replacement.

Posted by Admin December 26, 2024 Basketball

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Senior Izzy Krause has helped the Wilcats start this winter with a 7-1 record, which is saying something because she played sparingly as a junior.

The Plymouth girls basketball team made it all the way to February before it was officially knocked out of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association-West race a year ago.

With the Wildcats (7-1, 1-0) returning guards Emma Johnson and Mackenzie Dicken, small forward Evelyn Stiglish and post player Annie Flavin, they entered this winter as one of the favorites to win the division.

Their only glaring deficiency?

They needed someone to play opposite Flavin because, well, they graduated a really good center in Elena DiMaria, who is now playing at Madonna University.

Flavin and DiMaria perfected the high-low game, could rebound with the best of them and were a big reason why Stiglish and Dicken got so many open shots from outside. They were quite the duo down low.

The reality?

The answer to replacing DiMaria has been sitting on their bench all along.

Meet senior Izzy Krause, the almost 6-foot center who has helped Plymouth win more games than any other team in the West through the first month of the season.

She’s scored eight or more points in four games, posted a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in a recent 49-31 win over Wixom St. Catherine and has continued to help the offense despite having very little varsity experience.

“She had a great offseason,” coach Ryan Ballard said last week. “She dedicated herself to the weight room, shooting and being in the gym all fall and summer. I’m so happy for her. I’ve known her since she’s in the sixth grade — she was in my class (at Liberty Middle School) — and it’s been fun to see her develop over time.

“It couldn’t have happened to a better kid. She’s got great energy and is really going to help up this year.”

Krause’s motivation?

She was tired of riding the bench.

A year ago, she played more minutes on the JV as a junior than she did on the varsity. She was a fifth-quarter player who could split time between the two levels as long as she didn’t play more than five quarters per night.

When DiMaria graduated, she saw an opportunity to earn a role with the Wildcats.

Now she’s starting.

“I was a bench player my first three years,” the senior said. “I really wanted to be a starter, but I wanted to earn the position and not just be given it. So I put in the work to get there. I worked in the offseason and just tried to show up to everything that I could I could to make me better.”

That included training with DiMaria as well, working on post moves with the former All-KLAA selection.

“I think that (being able to replace DiMaria) is what has motivated her,” Ballard said. “I think that she saw that it was her senior year, and the clock was ticking on her high school career. She said, ‘Hey, I’m going to commit myself this year and get better,’ and she has. She’s just tough, man. And she’s a rebound machine, too.”

Added Krause: “I would get to practice early and work on post moves with Elaina, and she would help me a lot. And just showing up to everything has much as I could has helped, too. It just feels really good to know I can actually contribute to our team without it coming from off the bench.”

Krause prides herself on how strong she is in the post. That’s a hat tip to her time in the weight room and offseason training. She’s not a pushover. She can own the paint when she needs to.

Adding her strength to Flavin’s soft touch under the basket, Dicken’s ballhandling and great shooting from Johnson and Stiglish, and the Wildcats should be well on their way to competing for a West title.

“I first noticed her growth at the Northwood (University) team camp,” Ballard said. “We played really well, and she played really well. I said, ‘OK, she’ll have a really good year for us as long as we can stay healthy because all of these pieces are going to work together.’ And, really, that’s why we’re good. They just play unselfish together, and they don’t care who gets the credit. Anybody can score for us. And when they turn it up, they can be good.”

Like Krause’s journey to join the starting lineup, it’s been a tough road for the Wildcats.

The juniors and seniors who were on varsity three years ago went 6-17, even losing 13 straight games at one point.

A year ago? They finally learned how to win and play as a team. That was a credit to the leadership of senior Zaynab Saab and DiMaria and just how well the team rallied together in tough games. They went 14-9 and, really, what cost them the most was losing three times to Park rival Canton, who advanced to the Division 1 regional final a year ago behind Hometown Life Player of the Year Justice Tramble, who is now at South Carolina State.

Who knows? Perhaps Plymouth can put together a Canton-like finish this season and find themselves battling the likes of Wayne Memorial or Belleville in the regional tournament. Perhaps they can even win the league.

As long as players like Krause continue growing, anything is possible.

“About six of our kids have played big minutes, and this junior group of Mackenzie, Ev, Annie and EJ have played a lot of minutes since their freshmen year,” Ballard said. “We’ve been building that callus over time. They took their whooping freshmen year. Last year, they figured out how to win some games and, hopefully, this year, we can take the next step and win the KLAA-West.”

Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitter at @folsombrandonj.