‘Getting better every day’: Steamboat girls basketball begins its season Thursday

The Steamboat Springs girls basketball program is made up of about half freshmen this winter, and with only three seniors on the team, there will be plenty of new faces on the court this season.

The three returning upperclassmen are Hailey Bender, Talyn Anderson and Mahlet Vanblarcum, who will be back on the court this year after missing almost the entire 2023-24 season due to injury. Junior Naomi Baumgartner, who also spent a lot of time on the varsity team last year, is back.

The first practice of the season took place on Nov. 18 and head coach Shawn Baumgartner said the focus since then has been on preseason fundamentals.

“A lot of shooting and getting our defense involved,” he said. “A lot of emphasis was put on defense and you pride yourself on playing really strong defense. That’s where we’ve been lately.”

Last season, the girls managed a 6-16 season record despite a six-game losing streak to start the year. Coach Baumgartner said this season the focus will be on development and continuous improvement from the first practice to the very last game.

“Our focus this year and our motto for the season is to get better every day,” he said. “When you come into practice, make this day better than the day before. That’s been our focus and will probably be that goal all season long.”

Thursday marks the first official test of the season for the Sailors, who travel to a tournament at Roaring Fork High School. The three-day tournament begins with a matchup against Grand Valley.

The following weekend is the girls’ home tournament, the Steamboat Shootout, beginning December 12 against Berthoud. Baumgartner said he is excited to see the girls back in action this week and can’t wait to see how the girls improve as the season progresses.

“I think everyone is really excited to start this year,” Baumgartner said. “Last year was my first year and I introduced a completely new system. It’s been fun watching the girls grow from the end of last season through the summer and seeing where we are right now. Having this year behind us I think has been really good for everyone. We’re really excited to see where we are to get started next Thursday.”