Call it a Cougar-sized chip on Sydnee Kessler°®¶¹app™s shoulder. The Eastside senior, one of three juniors from the Blazers°®¶¹app™ 21-4 campaign in 2023-24 to earn All-NECC honors, still thinks daily about a 47-42 loss to Central Noble that ended Eastside°®¶¹app™s season in the opening round of sectionals.
°®¶¹appœWe°®¶¹app™re definitely going to come back this season coming after that spot, wanting that sectional title,°®¶¹app Kessler said. °®¶¹appœThat°®¶¹app™s not how we want it to end. Every day at practice, we come in knowing in our heads that°®¶¹app™s how it ended. That°®¶¹app™s one of our main goals this year.°®¶¹app
Coming off the best season in program history, including the team°®¶¹app™s first NECC Tournament championship since 1994, Kessler and the Blazers are dreaming big this year. Kessler was the team°®¶¹app™s third-leading scorer at 10.3 points per game last year. Eastside returns its top five scorers, but with what Kessler brings to the court, coach Mike Lortie thinks she might be the team°®¶¹app™s most important returner.
°®¶¹appœUsually she guards the other team°®¶¹app™s best player,°®¶¹app Lortie said. °®¶¹appœWe have a lot of girls coming back that played a lot of minutes last year. I°®¶¹app™m looking for the advancement of what we worked on last year (from Kessler). I°®¶¹app™m looking for more leadership and maybe a little more assertiveness on offense. Defensively, she was really good last year, and this year I°®¶¹app™d like to see her improve in all facets of her game.°®¶¹app
Lily Kreischer (11.8) and Paige Traxler (11.1) both averaged in double figures for Eastside last year, while Taylor Mack and Lucy Kitchen were both All-NECC honorable mention selections as freshmen. With a pair of 5-foot-10 players in Adelaide Elden and Rylan Moughler from a JV squad that finished 19-2 a season ago, Kessler°®¶¹app™s ability to keep an even keel while leading the team will prove crucial for the Blazers to reach their lofty goals.
°®¶¹appœI can slow things down and control the mode of the game,°®¶¹app Kessler said. °®¶¹appœI°®¶¹app™m a good passer, I can pass to any of our girls. Anyone can score on our team. I like being a leader on and off the court, and I feel like that°®¶¹app™s important, not just being friends in basketball but carrying that friendship on and off the court.°®¶¹app
Still, the Central Noble frustrations linger. While the sports cliché that it°®¶¹app™s hard to beat a team three times in a season did ring true for Eastside last year °®¶¹app“ the Blazers won a 50-48 nailbiter in the NECC Tournament quarterfinals on Jan. 10 and claimed the regular-season matchup 49-41 nine days later before the sectional defeat on Jan. 30 °®¶¹app“ the Cougars won°®¶¹app™t present the lone challenge in Eastside°®¶¹app™s goals of winning NECC regular season and tournament titles this year.
Despite moving to Class A, Fremont returns all but one player from a 16-win team that claimed the sectional championship with a win over Central Noble, while Fairfield won the Class 3A state title just two seasons ago. Those challenges, Kessler hopes, provide the final preparations needed to take her game to the collegiate level.
°®¶¹appœI°®¶¹app™m just willing to work,°®¶¹app Kessler said of her college aspirations. °®¶¹appœI want to be the best player that I can be, so I°®¶¹app™m willing to take any criticism. I°®¶¹app™m hungry for the next step.°®¶¹app
