Grand Island reinstates JV girls basketball, varsity comeback in sight

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — A Central Nebraska girls basketball program is reinstating its junior varsity team after a year of not fielding a team.
Grand Island Public Schools announced Friday that it has 35-40 girls in its program, which will allow the Islanders to add a JV schedule. Grand Island, which competes in Class A and has one of the largest enrollments in the state, canceled its JV and varsity seasons last school year because no junior or senior girls were planning to participate.
“Our student-athletes and coaches have been working really hard to continue to grow our program.” Chris Ladwig, GISH Activities Director, said. “Numbers are encouraging due to the work of our student-athletes and coaches. Having a JV schedule this year is showing our progression.”
Ladwig says most of the participating girls are incoming freshmen or sophomores. He expects the program is about a year away from fielding a varsity team.
“I was able to attend a number of the Freshman and Reserve games our girls played last year. The progress they were making was very evident and encouraging.” Matt Fisher, GIPS Superintendent, said. “However, it was also clearly evident that we were not going to be ready to jump back into a full Class A varsity schedule and expect our girls to be competitive. Adding back a JV schedule will give our athletes a chance to compete at a level where they can be successful.”
The Islanders varsity went 1-22 in the 2023-24 season with a victory over winless Omaha Bryan. Grand Island lost all of its other games by at least 26 points. The program hasn’t won more than three games in a season since the 2016-17 campaign.
Kathryn Langrehr stepped down as head coach in the spring after sticking with the program through the winter. Montie Fyfe will lead the program this season after serving as an assistant in the 1990s and again starting in 2023.
“We continue to be committed to the program, our players, our coaches, and to growing girls basketball in Grand Island.” Ladwig said.