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Mix takes over in Waupaca

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Madi Wennesberg encourages her Waupaca teammates Nov. 14 during a basketball scrimmage with Wild Rose at Waupaca High School. Wennesberg and the Comets will open the season with four straight home games, including a matchup with Berliin at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21. Greg Seubert Photo

New coach brings new attitude

By Greg Seubert


Confidence.

That, along with wins, has been missing from Waupaca High School’s girls’ basketball program lately and first-year coach Payton Mix is out to turn that trend around.

The Comets have won two of 45 games in the last two seasons, including a pair of 1-17 records in the North Eastern Conference.

Mix, who replaces Bailey Halvorsen, is the first to admit that her players don’t have a lot of confidence in their basketball game.

“You look at wins and losses to see if you’re successful, but for me, a lot of it is confidence,” said Mix, a 2015 graduate of New London High School.

“I saw that a lot on the first day of practice and even in the summer league, when I was able to coach these girls for the first time,” she said. “Confidence was a huge thing that I talked about: making them have belief in their skills and what they can do as a team. Them believing in themselves, that’s a big step to helping us be successful. I will feel successful if we can get that mindset changed.”

Mix graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point earlier this year, where she played basketball and softball. She is also a first-grade teacher at the Waupaca Learning Center.

“I am super-excited to be the varsity coach,” she said. “I’m here with new ideas and to turn this program around. The girls have been working extremely hard for me and I’m very excited to see where we are going.”

Mix played on New London girls’ basketball teams that won conference and regional championships and also played on a pair of softball teams that competed at state.

“I’ve talked to them about things that I’ve done when I played,” she said. “I relate to them being just out of college and not far out of high school. I know how it is and I think that brings a lot of new ideas. Girls’ basketball might not have been looked on these past few years as a winning program. Having pride to be part of the team is something I’m trying to change.”

The Comets opened the season Nov. 19 at home against Ripon and will host Berlin at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21.

“They have shown great work ethic and have done a great job coming to practice ready to work,” Mix said Nov. 14 after watching her team scrimmage against Wild Rose. “They respect me and I’ve seen great heart out of them today and in the first three days of practice. I’m not exactly sure what they’ve done in the past at practice, but I know from what the girls have said that I’ve done a lot more skills-based stuff. I believe that’s something we need to work on. I know it’s a building process. It might not be where we want to be this year, but I’m going to keep working toward it.”

Waupaca competes in the North Eastern Conference with Clintonville, Denmark, Fox Valley Lutheran, Freedom, Little Chute, Luxemburg-Casco, Marinette, Oconto Falls and Wrightstown.

“I actually played a lot of these teams in high school, so I know a little bit about how they run things,” Mix said. “I also plan to go watch games and we can look at film.”

Mix’s plan for the Comets includes focusing on fundamentals.

“I’ve been saying ‘own the clock’ a lot,” she said. “Last year, the score differential from what we scored to what other teams scored was quite a bit. Don’t let other teams control us. That’s something I say a lot.

“I believe that every girl on the team will have a role,” she added. “Maybe one girl can come in and shut someone down on defense. Maybe one girl can come in and we need her to drive to the hoop. I really want to work on making sure that every girl has a role and they can take advantage when we need them to step up the opportunity and not just rely on one, two or three people to score. I don’t think these girls are selfish and I think they’ll give up that extra pass for someone else to shoot. Now, we just need to knock it down.”

Waupaca High School 2019-20 Girls’ Basketball Schedules

Varsity

• Thursday, Nov. 14 – scrimmage vs. Wild Rose, 4:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 19 – vs. Ripon, 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 21 – vs. Berlin, 7:15 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 26 – vs. Little Chute, 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 5 – vs. Clintonville, 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, Dec. 10 – at Luxemburg-Casco, 7 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 13 – vs. Marinette, 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 19 – vs. Denmark, 7 p.m.
• Friday, Jan. 3 – at Wrightstown, 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 7 – at Oconto Falls 7 p.m.
• Friday, Jan. 10 – vs. Freedom, 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 16 – at Fox Valley Lutheran, 7 p.m.
• Monday, Jan. 20 – at Clintonville, 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 24 – at Little Chute, 7 p.m.
• Monday, Jan. 27 – vs. Luxemburg-Casco, 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 28 – at Shawano, 7:15 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 30 – at Marinette, 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, Feb. 4 – at Denmark, 7 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 7 – vs. Wrightstown, 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, Feb. 11 – vs. Oconto Falls, 7 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 14 – at Freedom, 7 p.m.
• Monday, Feb. 17 – vs. Mosinee, 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Feb. 20 – vs. Fox Valley Lutheran, 7 p.m.

JV1

• Thursday, Nov. 14 – scrimmage vs. Wild Rose, 4:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 19 – vs. Ripon, 5:45 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 21 – vs. Berlin, 5:45 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 26 – vs. Little Chute, 5:45 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 5 – vs. Clintonville, 5:45 p.m.
• Tuesday, Dec. 10 – at Luxemburg-Casco, 5:45 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 13 – vs. Marinette, 5:45 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 19 – vs. Denmark, 5:45 p.m.
• Friday, Jan. 3 – at Wrightstown, 5:45 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 7 – at Oconto Falls, 5:45 p.m.
• Friday, Jan. 10 – vs. Freedom, 5:45 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 16 – at Fox Valley Lutheran, 5:45 p.m.
• Monday, Jan. 20 – at Clintonville, 5:45 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 23 – at Little Chute, 5:45 p.m.
• Monday, Jan. 27 – vs. Luxemburg-Casco, 5:45 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 28 – at Shawano, 5:45 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 30 – at Marinette, 5:45 p.m.
• Tuesday, Feb. 4 – at Denmark, 5:45 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 7 – vs. Wrightstown, 5:45 p.m.
• Tuesday, Feb. 11 – vs. Oconto Falls, 5:45 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 14 – at Freedom, 5:45 p.m.
• Monday, Feb. 17 – vs. Mosinee, 5:45 p.m.
• Thursday, Feb. 20 – vs. Fox Valley Lutheran, 5:45 p.m.

JV2

• Tuesday, Dec. 10 – at Luxemburg-Casco, 5:40 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 7 – at Oconto Falls, 5:40 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 16 – at Fox Valley Lutheran, 5:40 p.m.
• Monday, Jan. 20 – at Clintonville, 5:40 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 30 – vs. Marinette, 5:40 p.m.

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