The last time the Bombers finished with a winning record came before most of the girls on the team were born. Sixteen years ago, they finished 21-6 under coach Bill Roberts.
Since then, the girls team has been an after thought to a successful baseball program and the occasional 10-win football team. But 10 games into this season, it looks like the Bombers are ready for another winning season.
After losing the final 11 games of the season in the spring, Argenta is 7-3 under first-year coach Tim Allen. And Allen’s team has some credible wins. Thanks to some team chemistry, added height and possibly the area’s best freshman — Kandie Bloch — the Bombers have wins against Warrensburg-Latham and Cerro Gordo. The team’s losses came against three of the Okaw’s best teams, Tolono Unity, St. Teresa and Central A&M.
“It feels great because before it wasn’t that much fun and now I enjoy going to practice,” senior guard Jenna Allen, who is Tim’s daughter, said about the team’s impressive start.
As the junior varsity coach last season, Tim knew the players he was inheriting and he was optimistic even after they went 5-20 last year.
He honestly thought a winning record was possible, especially with three vital additions to the team. Tim was able to talk Taylor Brunner and Hannah Millington — both volleyball players — into joining the team, which gave the Bombers much needed height.
“Last year we were short, but we took care of that and Taylor’s doing a great job with the minutes she’s getting,” Tim said. “I knew the talent we had. I knew with some hard work, this could be a good team.”
A year ago, Argenta had only one player taller than 5-foot-10. This year, Tim has three, one of whom is Bloch. In 10 games this year, Bloch, a 6-foot freshman, has seven double-doubles and is averaging more than 15 points and 11 rebounds a game.
“She has a nose for the basket,” Tim said. “When she puts the ball on the floor her intent is to score. She’s done a great job of scoring and rebounding for us.”
Bloch played one game on JV and scored 25 points before Tim moved her to varsity. In her first varsity game of her career, she had eight points and seven rebounds off the bench. She’s started every game since that 38-24 win against Arcola and in the team’s eighth game of the season she had 27 and 10 against Warrensburg.
“Last year was good, but it’s just different in high school,” Bloch said about succeeding as a basketball player. “It’s been a success for me so far.”
Bloch was a household name for Argenta girls basketball during the last winning season in 1993. That’s because Kandie’s aunt Karen was one of the area’s best players. She helped the Bombers to a regional title and was the Champaign News-Gazette Player of the Year.
“She has a lot of potential for sure,” Jenna said about Kandie. “She needs to get a little tougher, but us seniors are helping her with that and that will come over time.”
It’s not a surprise that the Jenna and the Bombers are enjoying the early-season success. Jenna’s been a part of only eight wins in the past two seasons combined, including back-to-back winless conference seasons in the Okaw. After losing to Central A&M 40-32 on Monday, Argenta is still near the top in the conference at 3-2.
“I told them, ‘I know how to coach the game and I know how to teach it, but I can’t do it all myself,’ ” Tim said. “ ‘I believe in you. You just have to believe in yourselves.’ ”
Through 10 games, Tim’s team clearly believes in themselves.
lbridges@herald-review.com|421-6970
Published in the Herald & Review in December 2009.
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