With five returning starters, Cardinal’s girls’ basketball team has reason to be optimistic heading into the 2024-2025 season.
The young Huskies finished 6-17 overall and went winless in conference play last season with a lineup filled with freshmen, but a year of experience should help Cardinal continue to make progress.
“We believe that we’ll be more competitive this year than last year,” said second-year head coach Kim Domen. “We’re still young, however, they have a year of varsity experience underneath their belt and now know what to expect. I think we will be quicker and have the potential to turn some heads this year provided we continue to put in the work and grow as a team. We have more girls this year in the program, which helps tremendously, so we’ll be rotating more to give the girls rest. We have new things added to the offense and defense. Lots of changes are coming which our coaching staff and I are really excited about.”
Cardinal’s returning starters include Ivy Kaminski, Emily Pleva, Natalie Soltis, Adelyn Grant, and Oliva Krebs.
Kaminski is a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard/forward who averaged 11.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 3.3 steals per game as a freshman. She earned All-Ohio honorable mention and second-team all-conference and all-district honors.
“Ivy is an extremely hard worker,” Domen said. “She’s quick and athletic and is becoming more of a vocal leader on the court. As she gains more confidence within herself, I believe she will be a strong asset and be more of a force on the floor. She has a knack for getting rebounds and that is why she was voted second-team all-CVC. Ivy has started to make a name for herself and I’m sure the league and other teams will hone in on her. She will have to learn to make adjustments based on what the defense does. I’m looking forward to watching Ivy continue to progress and do Ivy things.”
Pleva is a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard/forward. She averaged 8.1 points, 1.4 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game last winter while shooting 31.3 percent from behind the arc. She earned honorable mention all-conference and all-district.
“Emily is one of those players you can use at any position,” Domen said. “She never complains, and she does what needs to be done to help her team and teammates. Emily will play a lot of positions this year to maximize our offense. She has an excellent work ethic, she’s athletic, and will need to use more of her leadership skills on the court to help her team. She can shoot, handle the ball, and rebound, a little bit of everything which is good for us. Emily has started to make a name for herself, so she’ll have to make adjustments based on how the defense plays her. I’m looking forward to watching her come into some new things and watching her work.”
Soltis is a 5-foot-3 sophomore point guard. She averaged 3.7 points, 1.2 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game as a freshman.
“Nat showed a lot of improvement in summer league,” Domen said. “She’s quicker and put some muscle on her, which will only help her later on to battle in games. Nat is not afraid to put her body on the line. She’s scrappy and feisty and she does what it takes to help her team and teammates. Natalie, we believe, has more confidence within herself, which will help her as she takes command of the team with her leadership skills. She’s coming off of a great volleyball season and is really coming into her own as an athlete.”
Grant is a 5-foot-3 sophomore guard who averaged 1.4 points, 2.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.4 steals per game last winter.
“Adelyn is one of those players who is not afraid of anything,” Domen said. “She works hard, is scrappy, and is always up for a challenge. She’s small but mighty and is ready for her defensive assignment. Adelyn changed sports, from soccer to volleyball, and is coming off a great volleyball season and we are anxious to see what she will do this year.”
Krebs is a 5-foot-4 sophomore guard/forward who averaged 2.7 points, 1.1 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per contest last season in earning honorable mention all-conference honors.
“Olivia, at the end of the season last year, was growing into a more vocal leader and I’m hoping that continues into this year,” Domen said. “She works hard, and even though she’s the underdog under the basket, she actually prefers it, so that she can show everyone what she’s capable of. She does a lot of the dirty work to get rebounds and is working on getting a better touch around the rim. If she continues to work hard and work on her shot, she will be hard to defend. She’s coming off a great volleyball season and we can’t wait for her to start getting after it this season.”
Domen will count on Nova Young, Brynley Kitzmiller, Cambrya Kitzmiller, Sydney Lehr, Kamari Graley, and Kalina Kundrat to provide depth.
Young is a 5-foot-8 sophomore guard/forward who averaged 8.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 1.3 assists per game last season.
“Nova is willing to do whatever it takes,” Domen said. “With a year under her belt, she understands the level of play and what needs to be done. She will play a multitude of positions this year to maximize our team dynamics. She is one of those players that has the ability to play those positions. Nova too changed sports from soccer to volleyball and has come off a great season. She works hard and with more confidence within herself, and one year of experience, her presence will be known on the court, and can’t wait to see her develop and progress this season.”
Brynley Kitzmiller is a 5-foot-6 junior guard/forward.
“Brynley is an extremely hard worker and has improved a lot from last year to this year,” Domen said. “Brynley will add valuable minutes this year. She’s always up for the challenge and we know she’ll work hard to achieve that. She’s a very coachable player and never complains at the task given to her. I’m looking forward to seeing her continue to progress through the season.”
Cambrya Kitzmiller is a freshman guard/forward.
“Cambrya will see some varsity minutes,” Domen said. “With her size, she can be utilized to our advantage. With some guidance and reassurance, she will do fine. She’s young and can be molded into what we need her to do. She’s a very coachable player and is also a very hard worker. She works well with her team and teammates.”
Lehr is a 5-foot-5 freshman point guard.
“Syd is young, but also wants to do the very best she can in whatever is asked of her,” Domen said. “She has a nice shot and will see some varsity minutes since we have numbers within the program this year. I’m happy with her progress thus far and we are looking forward to what she will add to the varsity minutes.”
Graley is a 5-foot-8 junior power forward.
“Kamari has grown leaps and bounds this year in basketball and has pushed herself and has matured a lot from last year,” Domen said. “With her size, she could become a very valuable person with some minutes on varsity. We are very happy with her progress and hope she will continue.”
Kundrat is a 5-foot-9 freshman forward.
“Kalina too has some size that will be valuable for varsity minutes,” Domen said. “She is young but also willing to do what it takes. Like all young players, all are afraid to make a mistake and get down on themselves. With continued guidance, we know they are up for the challenge and will do good things this year.”
Cardinal’s lineup remains young, but the starting players and several others gained valuable experience last winter.
That experience should help the squad to remain competitive throughout the season.
“We are quick, young, and work extremely hard and have a very competitive group of ladies that don’t back down from challenges,” Domen said. “We plan to take advantage as much as possible with our quickness. If we continue to work on the little things individually, we grow as a team and become stronger as a whole.”
Cardinal’s relative inexperience remains a challenge but Domen is confident her squad will continue to improve from game to game.
“We still are inexperienced in a sense, with only having one year of varsity experience that will be our challenge this year,” she said. “Our coaching staff and I hope we gain more confidence within ourselves and our abilities. We need to overcome our mistakes, brush them off and move forward quickly. Our mindset has to be to control what we can control. We can’t control certain things, but the things we can, each player needs to be aware of them, control the improving process, control the effort, control the work ethic, then we improve overall as a team.”
