The Indianola girls basketball team earned a record of 16-7 this season, but more impressively was their record in games decided by six points or less. After an early season loss to Pella by two points, the Indians rattled off five wins by the slim margin for the rest of the season to sit at 5-1, including a pair of wins over Grinnell that clinched the Little Hawkeye Conference. Head coach Jeff Janssen tells KNIA Sports the squad matured over the course of the season to keep their cool in late game situations.

“I think the biggest thing this year was the girls were making plays, and the girls were taking ownership of the program. We had competitors, we had leaders on our team that willed us to win in some of those games that we didn’t win last year. I’m really proud of our progress this year and what we were able to accomplish, and the next steps are there and I can’t wait to continue to dig in and see where else we can improve upon.”

The Indians graduated just one player from their squad this season, in Bailey Blake.