I feel like the girls are putting a lot of effort in. It’s a very positive environment and it’s a great opportunity for the girls to learn every day.”

Jon Gehm

ROCHELLE — Shooting and ball handling are among the top priorities for second-year head coach Jon Gehm and his staff as the Rochelle Lady Hub varsity basketball team returns to the hardwood for the start of its summer schedule, which tipped off with its first open gym Monday.

The Lady Hubs are working out three days a week this month, with open gyms scheduled every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30-8 a.m. Rochelle will also compete in the Byron Summer League and hold its annual middle school camp June 10-14 from 10-11:30 a.m. Among the skills covered during the high school camp this month are ball handling and crossovers, fast break principles, footwork, shooting, passing, individual moves, team offense and post play.

“I feel like the girls are putting a lot of effort in,” Gehm said. “It’s a very positive environment and it’s a great opportunity for the girls to learn every day. We have a heavy focus on ball handling, shooting and playmaking because we’ll need a lot of that going into next season in order to replace what we lost from last season. We’ve had a good turnout and we have a good freshman class coming in. We’re in Byron on Tuesday nights and we’re facing some good competition.”

The Lady Hubs are looking to build on their 13-18 overall record during the 2023-24 season, Rochelle’s first with Gehm as the head coach. The Lady Hubs will have several varsity spots up for grabs as the team aims to replace multiple starters including Interstate 8 All-Conference honorees Alivia Henkel and Kara Martinez. Sydney Tabor, Kennedy Adamski and Loretta Atkinson are three more seniors from the 2023-24 roster who played prominent varsity roles.

“The first season was a lot of fun,” Gehm said. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves last summer to build a foundation and I thought we did a good job of that as a staff. We want to continue building on that foundation now and the girls have an idea of what they need to bring every day and how they’re going to be coached. Our goals are always to win. We want to win a regional and compete in our conference. We want to be playing our best ball in February.”

Rochelle will look to a group of rising seniors including Kendyl Darby, Abby Metzger as well as Payton Cesarone, Erin Murphy and Riley Doyle to lead the way during the summer and into the 2024-25 school year. Rising juniors such as Jaydin Dickey and Carmela Bright are two more players who could see big roles with the varsity team when the Lady Hubs return next winter.

“We want Kendyl and Abby to come in and be leaders for us,” Gehm said. “We need them to take a big step forward in terms of scoring, rebounding and making plays for us. Payton saw some limited action as a junior and we want her to provide some shooting and defense. We want Erin and Riley to give us good minutes down low and fight hard for rebounds. Jaydin got some great varsity experience as a sophomore and she’s primed for a big season next year. Carmela’s going to play some point guard for us and we need her to have a great summer.”