Horace GBB Begins Season 9-0; Ranked No. 4 in Class AA

HORACE GBB IS THE HIGHEST RANKED EDC TEAM; NO. 4 OVERALL.

HORACE, N.D. (KVRR)–The West Fargo Horace Hawks girls basketball team is in just their second year as a varsity program and are the only remaining undefeated team in Class AA.

The Hawks are taking the Eastern Dakota Conference (EDC) by storm this season and sit at 9-0 on the year. The Hawks began this season unranked and placed No. 4 in the preseason EDC poll (by “Hoopster). Now, under first year head coach Brent Hintz, the Hawks are the top ranked team in the EDC (NDAPSSA poll) and are ranked No. 4 in Class AA overall. They are ranked behind Minot (9-2), Bismarck Legacy (8-1) and Bismarck Century (8-1).

“We just seem to have really good energy about us right now,” said Hintz. “You know, we have talked a lot early in the season about building a culture and creating an atmosphere that is conducive to being successful. State rankings–you take them with a grain of salt, but it’s nice for the kids to be recognized. They put a lot of hard work in and not just in-season but out of season.”

That hard work has shown as the hawks have two players in the top-10 of the EDC in scoring. Junior Jaiden Haile scores over 20 points per game while also leading the EDC in rebounds with 15 per contest.

Eighth grader Lakyn Donnelly has taken a huge jump from playing as a Seventh grader on varsity last year. This season she averages 14 points per game, ninth best in the EDC.

Donnelly says the team is as welcoming as can be.

“This team is like really inviting,” said Donnelly. “They’ve really just let me in and they don’t make me feel like I’m younger than them. The coaches have been great. So, it’s just been a really fun experience.”

Jaiden Haile shares why this team is so successful on the court and her one-two punch with Donnelly.

“We love Lakyn,” said Haile. “She played with us last year as a seventh grader and we play really well together. Most games we’ve got three players in double digits, and that’s why we’re able to be so successful. It’s not a one-man show. [Teams] can’t really just collapse on me because they have got our guards to worry about and that’s something that makes us really successful and hard to guard.”

The Hawks will take on Grand Forks Central on Friday, January 12 as they look to move to 10-0 on the season.