Adversity, Strength and Winning: The Spectrum Sting (Free)
In my first year of writing for Prep Girls Hoops Minnesota, I’ve learned a lot about the game of girls hoops in Minnesota. I have learned who the top teams are in the state, who the top players are in the state, etc. I’ve also learned a lot about a girls hoops program near where I live which is Spectrum High School, a tuition-free, charter school located in Elk River that has just over 400 students in grades 9-12 and Coach Cory Hund, who has been so open as far as me diving into learning more about his Spectrum program in my first year of many covering girls hoops in the great state of Minnesota.
You may remember Spectrum from my team preview well before the season started, where I was able to dive in on Spectrum’s expectations for the year, learn about some of their top players to watch, etc. Through three torn ACLs, a herniated disc, and a rolled ankle, that same team I wrote about way before the season started, has rallied to 19 victories going into section play and has a new player on their school scoring record in Abby Thompson (2020, Hamline Commit) who broke it just a few games ago. I drove to Elk River this week to see what this squad was able to do to turn a season full of challenges into a positive one where they are breaking record after record. I was able to chat with Carli Elrod (2022), Jenna Schreifels (2020), Abby Thompson (2020) and Adrianne Foell (2021) about their season full of high notes, adversity, and much more.
Keeping the Morale High
With the number of injuries, the Spectrum Sting have had this year, Coach Cory Hund has had to depend on the next one up mentality, whether that’s pulling a player off the bench and making them a starter, pulling JV players up to varsity, etc. “We had to keep our heads up,” said sophomore, Carli Elrod about the season of adversity Spectrum has had to endure. Abby Thompson (2020, Hamline commit), who is the senior leader of this team, told PGH MN “It made us more mentally strong and with the younger players coming up, and we as seniors had to play harder.”
This Year vs. Last Year
Last year’s Spectrum Girls Hoops team finished with a 13-12 record, not bad by any means but the girls wanted more this year. The workouts from summer basketball, and playing against stronger competition in Breakdown USA fall league helped them grow this year. Talking chemistry from last year, Spectrum guard Carli Elrod said: “Our chemistry is really good this year, and we’ve grown stronger during practices a lot as it’s fun to see on the court.”
Learning As the Season Goes
Thompson, as the team lead, has encouraged younger players like Carli Elrod to shoot more, which just shows how great of a team-oriented player she and this Spectrum program is. “Abby told me it’s more fun to shoot and it is more fun to shoot in the game,” Carli said. Another senior leader, Jenna Schreifels told PGH MN she learned this season, “the game mentally, has to do with your positivity, and you can’t get down on yourself as it can take a toll on how you play,” Hamline commit, Abby Thompson said about her 2020 season, “I got mentality tougher this year as with the injuries, we’ve faced a lot of adversity. It can get frustrating playing with younger girls, as they have never played varsity basketball and they don’t know what to do yet but we had to pull them up,” As for upcoming senior Adrianne Foell, she said the whole reason she plays basketball is about “the fun of it, as it’s not about the score on the scoreboard.” which is a great thing to teach a younger player to enjoy the game of basketball versus worrying about the score.
Team Goals to End the Season
Goals are so key to any player’s game, and any team’s game, and setting them is key to being successful. Last Thursday night in Elk River, the Spectrum Girls Hoops program set a school record that’s never been done before. They got their 19th win of the season, which is a school record for the program and finished the regular season at 19-7 going into sections this week. They got 31 points from Abby Thompson, who now holds the Spectrum school record for points and in that game, scored her 1000th point of the season against St. Croix Prep.
Coach Hund’s Words of Wisdom
When chatting with the four Spectrum Sting players that gave me their time, they all had similar great things to say about Spectrum head coach Cory Hund. A common word that was used in my interview, is that they were treated like his “daughters” not just on the court, but off the court too. “He has a lot of confidence in us and is a coach that believes in his players,” said Carli Elrod about Hund’s belief in his girls. “He cares more about what we are doing in life than in basketball,” said Abby Thompson about the bond herself and the other Sting players have had with Hund. “He’s super positive,” said junior Adrianne Foell, as she said he makes you “feel so much better” when something doesn’t go the Sting’s way.
What’s Next and Side Notes
Spectrum will try to accomplish something on Thursday night in Pierz that they’ve never done before. In their 14 years of existence of the school, Spectrum has never won a section game as they look to make history on Thursday night as an underdog against 7 seed Pierz who they will travel to on Thursday night for a 7:00 PM tipoff. As a small side note, Spectrum has two cousins of a player the state of Minnesota knows extremely well. Freshman Molly Novotny (2023) and junior Morgan Novonty (2021) are cousins of Minnesota’s and the nation’s top 2020 prospect, Paige Bueckers. With this story and that side note, you as hoops fans should make the trip to the small gym in the heart of Elk River next season to watch this team, I guarantee it will be worth your cost of admission.
Best of luck to the Sting as they work to win that first-ever section within girl’s hoops history on Thursday night!