The girls basketball team is on a roll starting the 2025-2026 season 5-0. Many players on the team attribute the success to their recent weekend trip to the Upper Peninsula for a season-kickoff game. Ever since then, the team has yet to face defeat. 

“We went to Sault Saint Marie, which is in the upper Peninsula,” senior Maggie McKale said. “On the way up we stopped at the Breslin Center to do a tour, and Alma to have a short practice.”

McKale discussed how the trip brought a fun and thrilling experience from having a road trip with the girls and staying in one house like a huge slumber party.

“We went outside and had a snowball fight, searched around for sticks to make smores with, and made hot chocolate,” McKale said. 

She explained how the trip helped the team immensely with their chemistry both on and off the court, and they were able to grow stronger.

“If you aren’t close with your team and don’t have that bond, then it can be very hard to play together, so this trip helped with that aspect,” McKale said.

“What I always like to do with my teams, especially early in the year, is get away from the school setting and go somewhere where we can get out of our comfort zone a little bit,” head coach Todd Bloomquist said. “Most of what I wanted to accomplish with this trip is team bonding, bringing us closer together, and getting to know somebody off the basketball floor.” 

Coach Blomquist has been a part of the girls basketball program for 20 years coming up this season. With some redirection throughout the years, he has made his way back to the head coaching position.

“In my experience with coaching girls, I think that’s super important just to bring people together,” Blomquist said. “I firmly believe that if you develop relationships off the floor, when you come to play together, you’re much more likely to play an art for your teammate.”