Beth Clark says 35 years of experience as Hermantown girls basketball head coach has mostly heightened her passion for the game.
“Coaching is in my DNA, and I still love going to the gym,” said Clark, Cromwell’s all-time career and single season scoring and assists leader who retired as Hermantown’s activities director after 17 years last spring.
“Great assistant coaches, committed student-athletes and their parents and a supportive administration are the secret sauce,” said Clark. “Most importantly, I have the greatest assistant coach ever in Jim Prisk, who has been with me for over 30 years. Eric Borndal, a former student, has been with us for about the last 15 years. They’re great with the kids, and the loyalty piece is huge. We’re family.”
The 2022-23 Hawks will be led by seniors Liv Birkeland, Emma Herstad, Kellyn Biondi, Lauryn Biondi, Jadyn Lind and Amari Nunez, and underclassmen Bailey Zagelmeyer, Zoe Bergerson and Mikayla Sweeney.
“That’s where we start, with our six seniors, and hopefully the underclassmen will fill in some roles,” said Clark. “Our seniors are very athletic, and we have some younger players with size and length, who we expect to contribute rebounding and help out defensively. Some kids excel faster than others, but I expect that all the kids will see steady improvement. Rolls continually change throughout the season. It’s a matter of filling those roles and getting better every day.”
Hermantown will be searching for its fifth-ever Minnesota state tournament appearance, and first since 2020.
“Our previous state tourney teams were in the mid 2000s,” said Clark.
The Hawks participate in Section 7AAA and the Lake Superior Conference.
“We’re a highly competitive program, and we pride ourselves on being a team you don’t want to play in the tournament,” said Clark. “We’ve hung our hat on mental toughness, a mindset of competiveness and winning, and playing our best basketball when it matters the most. Some of our top players have gone on to play college basketball.”
The road to state almost always goes through Section 7AAA kingpin Grand Rapids, Clark said.
“Our goal to get them in the championship game,” said Clark of the Thunder Hawks. “In our Lake Superior Conference, Superior is also a tough out, and Cloquet and Proctor are always strong. This season I expect that we’ll take our lumps early – hopefully we’ll have short memories – and will be more competitive as the season goes on.”
📷 Shawna Jokinen | Freeway North Photography