By Rich Winter

605 Sports

When the preseason girls basketball polls were released in December few people were thinking about Wagner. A season-opening win over then No. 1 ranked Winner (41-34) opened some eyes. A win at Sioux Falls Christian (50-40) on Jan. 4 and a home win over Class B No. 2 Corsica-Stickney (51-38) turned more heads. 

Saturday’s 75-47 win over West Central got the attention of voters as the Red Raiders vaulted into the No. 1 ranking for Class A girls. 

“That was by far the best we’ve played,” Mike Koupal, Wagner girls coach said. “We had a game plan going in and did an excellent job defensively.” 

So where did this Wagner team come from? 

A year ago this team finished below .500, losing to McCook Central/Montrose 62-60 (MCM would later qualify for the state tournament) in region play. Mid-season the team picked up 5-foot-11 sophomore Shalayne Nagel from Avon. That addition, and the growth of a very young team helped Wagner win five of their last seven games. 

“We were just young a year ago playing a 7th-grader, two freshmen and two sophomores,” he said. 

This summmer Emma and Lydia Yost moved to Wagner when their father Matt accepted the Superintendent position. 

Koupal soon learned he was going to have something special after watching open gyms, going to team camps and seeing the girls play together this summer. 

“Everyone understood their spacing and knew where to be,” he said. “The ball was zipping around, everyone was talking and making the extra passes.” 

Emma Yost, the 5-foot-11 junior has been a force this season averaging 15 points and nine rebounds. Her play and the balance of a talented roster has been key to this undefeated start for the Red Raiders. 

Emma Yost is averaging 15 points and nine rebounds per game

“Sophomore Macy Koupal handles the ball for us and she’s a good shooter (44 percent, 3-pointers last year),” Koupal said. “Junior Eve Zephier started the last two years, she’s a great athlete and she loves to get after it on defense.” 

Koupal says Nagel has a nose for the ball, a nose for gaps, is a great passer and loves to flash to the basket.

The Red Raiders bring freshman Lydia Yost and 6-foot, 8th-grader Ashlyn Koupal off the bench. 

“We can kind of pick our poison with our lineup and that completely depends on matchups,” he said. 

Macy and Ashlyn are the daughters of Mike and Tera Koupal. 

Against West Central, Wagner had five girls scoring in the 7-9 point range. Against Parkston the Red Raiders had four scorers in the 11-15 point range. 

“I keep telling the girls that if another team takes away their individual game they can still be a good passer, a good rebounder and it’s not a bad game just because you don’t score a lot,” he said. 

The Wagner girls are long this season with a roster that has five players that are 5-foot-10 or taller. Only one senior on the roster, Jessica Kocer. 

“You can’t coach height,” he said. “When you play against height it alters a lot of shots and changes things defensively.” 

On Monday, coach Koupal addressed the No. 1 ranking following Saturday’s 27-point win over West Central. 

“Today we focused in practice to just shut out the noise,” he said. “We play the games and we can’t worry about the outside noise, we just have to come ready to play tomorrow.”