Blair-Taylor Led by Star Duo

BLAIR, Wis. (WEAU) - Blair-Taylor High School might be home to the most dominant basketball team you haven’t heard of this year. The school with just 189 students enrollment has once again assembled a standout girls’ basketball squad. At a perfect 18-0 the Wildcats sit perched atop the Dairyland-Large Conference.

“Can’t ask for anything better,” said Head Coach Jesse Lien. “We got nine seniors this year, so it’s a very veteran group. And, you know, they play hard, they play together. It’s obvious they’ve played together for a long time, so they know where each other are at all times.”

While the Wildcats are no slouches on defense, Blair-Taylor’s calling card is it’s explosive offense. The team average nearly 72 points a night, a top 20 figure in the state. Star Senior guard Lindsay Steien averages 24 points a night along with 5.5 assists and 7.1 rebounds. Her backcourt mate Abby Thompson chips in 17 points of her own to go with her team leading 7.1 assists.

“They work together so good and they kind of lead everything up, you know, and everyone follows and they like to get up and down the court,” said Lien. “The whole team does. And, you know, I’ve had people tell me, you know, it’s it’s fun watching that kind of basketball. And it and to me it is you’re scoring points. It’s a fast game. It’s a skill game because you’re out in the open court running.”

“It feels natural, like you just hit the open ground, you know, that they’re going to make a basket when they have to,” said Steien.

The standout duo’s connection extends beyond the court.

“Well, we’re cousins, so, I mean, our bond is pretty tight and we know where each other are going to be,” said Thompson. “And we rely on each other a little bit. But I think that just comes with like growing up together and spending a bunch of hours in the gym.”

“Obviously being, you know, so close that between the two of them that, you know, one of them knows where the other one’s going to be at all times,” said Lien.

The star connection is fueling big dreams for the squad. After getting bounced by Bangor in the sectional semifinal round of last year’s tournament, they are aiming even higher this season.

“Keep getting further in the tournament, like we’ve gotten farther than we ever had last year and just keep getting farther,” said Steien.

“We know where we want to go in the tournament and with that comes work and dedication. So we come to practice every single day with those goals in our mind,” said Thompson.

But first they’ll look to close out their standout regular season with a Dairyland title that seems well in their grasp.

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