Maple Grove Girls Creating Morning Mahem

The Maple Grove Crimson girls’ basketball program continues to build on their state tournament appearance a year ago. A group of talented seniors led by Ellen Edison, Stephanie Davison and Anna Gerdes are pushing for greater results. For the returning players, only one result will suffice.

“For us two just getting there isn’t enough,” said Davison about the state tournament. “We want the championship,” continued Edison. “We’ve been waiting all these years.” “And we’re hungry,” finished Davison.

If the two seem in sync it is because they are. The two played on the same travel team through seventh grade pushing the bar waiting for their moment to lead what is becoming a strong girls basketball community.

The program has continued to build year after year under the guidance of head coach Mark Cook. Entering his sixth season as head coach, Cook has compiled an 80 and 60 record including 27-3 a season ago. Which is why in the first week of summer break, it should come as no surprise that 40 girls between 8th and 12th grades are in the gym at 7am for “Morning Mahem”. A summer program designed to provide the returning varsity players an opportunity to continue to work with each other and allow the underclassmen to grasp the game at the high school level.

“It’s exciting,” said Cook. “It’s been like this the past couple of years. The kids are really fired up about getting in the gym and we saw the payoff this past season and hopefully we can continue to do that.”

Edison and Davison have played varsity basketball since their freshman year and their influence on the younger players is paying off.

“We know a lot of the young girls want to come in and play,” said Edison. “We’re excited to see these girls in the gym working hard at seven o’clock in the morning. That’s a lot of dedication.”

*Editors Note: The initial story listed Edison and Davison as team captains. Team captains have not been named for the upcoming season. FOX Preps apologizes for not clarifying this prior to writing the article.