Girls basketball notebook: Dykstra sisters dominate for Yale; Almont's confidence rises

YALE — This is life in the BWAC for girls basketball teams now. Just about every game is a grind, no matter where the two participants are in the standings.

That was the case Tuesday, when Yale survived a late rally from Almont to hold on for a 38-32 victory. Here's where each team stands in the thick of conference play.

The Dykstra sisters lead the way as Yale surges

The Bulldogs are clicking at just the right time.

"We just work well together," Yale coach Bryan Goulding said. "The girls all get along. So when they play together, we usually see good things on the court."

"I've played with a lot of these people for two or three years," senior guard Abbi Dykstra said. "And it's easier than I thought it would be (playing with my sister). I was scared at first."

Dykstra is referring to her sister, Sadie, who is a freshman guard on the team.

"We can get a bit snippy at each other on the court sometimes," Sadie Dykstra said with a laugh. "But that's siblings. We both want to win. We both want to do better out there. So we might get on each other's nerves, but I think we both play better when we're angry."

Angry or not, it's worked so far. Sadie Dykstra scored a game-high 17 points in Tuesday's win over the Raiders, while Abbi Dykstra followed with 13. It was the fourth straight victory for Yale, which improved to 8-4.

"I think each player has had their own really good game," Abbi Dykstra said. "There's been one game where someone (different) has been on it."

"Last game, Gracie McCormick hit a couple 3s for us," Goulding said. "Which was really important. So we've had different kids step up for us."

The Bulldogs have one of the more seasoned groups in the BWAC with seven seniors, which is unique among conference opponents.

"We're still looking to win the league," Goulding said. "We just want to get better going down the stretch. Even if we don't win the league, we want to get better going into districts so that we can make a run."

Almont's confidence rises with progress

Don't let a 5-7 record fool you. The Raiders are picking up steam. After going 1-5 in the first six games of the season, they're 4-2 over the past six.

"This team works their tails off," Almont coach Erik Johnson said. "It's never (a question) of their effort. But they're starting to understand the game a little bit better as the season progresses. They're starting to understand situations and how to play our defense. We're doing a good job. I'm proud of them."

"We work together a lot," junior forward Lydia LaCavera said. "For many of us, we play other sports together. So we know each other outside of sports and how to overcome difficult problems that we might face."

One of the challenges Almont faces is youth. There are only four seniors on a roster of 10 girls. But thanks to the development of players like forward Lauren Webster, the Raiders have overcome their inexperience.

"Lauren has (stood out) for being a sophomore," LaCavera said. "I was in that spot last year. And for being in the same exact position, she's doing really well. I know last year, my confidence was not there. And hers is definitely there."

"She's growing in her confidence," Johnson said of Webster. "That's a kid that's going to earn more minutes as she gets more confident and used to the game speed. At first, she was very timid. But now you can see the aggression from her."

It's an aggression that the whole team shares. The Raiders showed it in Tuesday's loss when they turned a double-digit deficit into a one-possession game late.

"We just want to get better every day," Johnson said. "And I think that's what we're doing. We've won four out of six now and we're starting to play better basketball. We want to be ready to play come (the district tournament). We want to be that team that nobody wants to face."

Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.