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GRAND MEADOW – The Superlarks girls basketball team has been on a roll and it’s largely been due to conditioning, defense and determination.

As it closes out the regular season this week, Grand Meadow (20-2 overall) has won 12 straight and the team has conquered its last four foes by at least 35 points each.

Since they have a short rotation, the Superlarks are conditioned to play long minutes, and those minutes haven’t been easy as the team has turned its focus to defense this season. Senior Lauren Queensland, who is averaging 18.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.0 steals per game, said things are coming together at the right time.

“We’ve all been playing together and working hard. These last couple of weeks, we’ve really been gelling with our team chemistry,” Lauren said. “When we’re lacking energy, we’ve found it from our teammates and that goes down to the bench, where they’re always supporting us.”

Lauren is the daughter of GM head coach Ryan Queensland. GM’s Gracie Foster, a junior, is also the daughter of a coach as her dad is Russ Foster, who has a lot of past experience coaching in Southeast Minnesota.

“When you have the experience of being a coach’s kid, you see things differently,” said Foster, who is averaging 15.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 35 percent from the three-point line. “You have that knowledge and it kind of grows with you. You also have a high expectation for yourself and you’re self motivated.”

The Superlarks are outscoring their opponents on average of 69.7-52.7 points per game and while top-ranked Goodhue (20-4 overall) looms as the Section 1A favorite, GM can’t think that far ahead just yet.

“It’s one game at a time for us. That’s kind of the way we’ve been looking at it all year long. I think this team has surprised not only me, but other people with their ability to play together. We have a super strong section, there’s no doubt about that,” Ryan Queensland said. “Goodhue sets the standard and if you look at the rest of us, anybody can win on any night. We’ve just got to worry about ourselves and stick to what’s been successful for us this year.”

GM’s focus on defense has helped the offense come along as the Superlarks have been big on creating transition opportunities.

“Defense encourages you to play better on offense,” Foster said. “If you get a steal, you get a random burst of energy and that carries over.”

For Ryan, this season is bittersweet as it will be his last season coaching his daughters. His other daughters, Riley Queensland and Kendyl Queensland both played college basketball and Lauren likely will as well.

“I don’t think that’s really hit me yet. It’s been a blessing to be able to coach all three of my daughters and it’s also been a blessing to have wonderful athletes and parents who have supported the team,” Ryan said. “I’m the lucky one that my daughters have both allowed me to coach them. Riley and Kendyl have both gone and had success with the (Gustavus) Gusties and Lauren will soon decide where she’s going to go play.”

GM will play at LeRoy-Ostrander at 6 p.m. Thursday and it will close out the regular season when it hosts Lanesboro at 7:15 p.m. Friday.

Lauren, who played on the GM team that advanced to the Section 1A finals in 2023, is hoping the team can close out strong and then start a deep postseason push.

“We definitely want to get back to the Civic Center and make a long statement run,” Lauren said.