AMHERST, WI-- Amherst's girls basketball team is off to an 11-0 start this season, ranked 2nd in the division 3 poll. And think, when Taylor Strand returns to full health, the Falcons will be even better.

Strand is coming off a torn right ACL, which she suffered early in the playoffs last season. Strand's injury changed the complexion of the Falcons.

They reached Madison for a 3rd straight time, only to get ousted by eventual champ Oostburg. It's that helpless feeling Strand uses as motivation to return to full strength.

"Just watching, I was like, aww I could have helped a little bit," Strand said. "I could've done this. I could have done that. Kind of a rough situation down there. I want to get back so bad. I just want to be on the floor and playing with my team."

"Her shooting is excellent. She's an excellent shooter," fellow senior Kate Glodowski added. "So hopefully she can bring that back for us and come up with some big points."

"She's such a pure shooter," coach Shelly Haferbecker said. "And that was one more...you know it's tough to defend our team. And it's tough to defend our team when you had five shooters out there that could shoot the three. Taking one away, it allowed a team to sink in more that they would have."

The Falcons senior was a 2nd team all-conference performer last season in the Central Wisconsin-8, and hopes to return to that form.
Strand's been in and out of the lineup so far. The key is to not increase her workload before the knee's ready.

"We just have to go by what the trainer is telling us and taylor knows what she needs to do," said Haferbecker. "She wants to keep strengthening it throughout the season so when it comes playoff time she's ready to go. she doesn't want to jump in there and go to heavy on it and risk something happening to it before she's built up that strength."

"I guess it's easy to take it easy, but i'm a hard working person and I want to play very much. I just want to be out there. It's my senior year and I want to be playing."

The Falcons return to the court Tuesday night at Weyauwega-Fremont.