Iowa Girls Basketball Team Shows Resiliency After Bus Crash

On November 15, the St. Mary’s High School girls basketball team from Remsen, Iowa, was on its way back from a preseason scrimmage in South Dakota when the team bus was involved in a major crash. With the first game right around the corner, the team wasn’t sure what it was going to do with three key players sustaining major injuries in the crash that would sideline them for the entire season.

After discussions within the athletic department, the small school in rural Iowa decided that it would play a 2025-26 season, demonstrating the incredible resilience shown by the team and St. Mary’s athletic program.

St. Mary’s Athletic Director Jarrod Schott emphasizes about how much the support meant from the tight-knit Remsen community.

“I think that creates a very family atmosphere and everyone pitched in to do whatever they could immediately,” Schott said.

Support also went beyond just the town of Remsen and the school community as the team received support from across the state. A husband and wife who were among the first to arrive at the crash scene organized a fundraising event in January that garnered a large turnout, including people from St. Mary’s, and also officials, coaches, teams and friends who all showed up from other towns.

It didn’t stop there either. St. Mary’s got an overwhelming number of cards, emails and calls from various people and groups across Iowa. Schott said that one of the girls even got a call from Jan Jensen, University of Iowa head women’s basketball coach.

One of the most special moments, though, came on senior night when the team hosted Lawton-Bronson. For the first time since the accident, the three girls who sustained major injuries were reunited in the gym: Hallie Bunkers, Grace Galles and Brielle Schorg. St. Mary’s wanted to do something to recognize the three girls on senior night, especially Galles, who was the only senior on the team.

“Let’s finish with the team that we started with,” Schott said.

That was exactly what they did and Lawton-Bronson was all in for it. Schott mentioned that they even made shirts specifically for the game that were worn by supporters of both teams.

On a night that was already very emotional, it all came together when Hallie Bunkers assisted Grace Galles to open the scoring for St. Mary’s as Lawton-Bronson backed off on defense as a part of the tribute. After the basket, play was stopped and the team joined the three teammates.

“There was a lot of joy and probably not a lot of dry eyes in the gym that night,” Schott said.

The resilient recovery efforts created a moment that the St. Mary’s community would never forget. For a team that wasn’t even sure if it was going to have a season, it was definitely more than just a basketball game. Schott also said that while senior night was emotional, seeing the girls on the court for their first game, he knew his team was going to overcome the difficult time.

“The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) was very supportive in everything and they reached out within a few hours,” Schott said.

The IGHSAU advised them to do whatever was best as long as they had a team, despite the modifications the team had to make. This included longer off periods as well as dropping games, but Schott said that St. Mary’s was still able to play a relatively normal schedule.

Although the dynamic had changed with these modifications and the loss of three key players, it gave other players an opportunity to step up as leaders.

“One of the positives that comes out of this is that we had some other girls that had to step up and be leaders,” Schott said. He also added that those who stepped up discovered a new side of themselves in a positive way. “If you have strong leaders and strong personalities, they’re allowed to be a follower. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Schott said.

The aftermath of the event did a lot for not only the St. Mary’s girls basketball team, but also within the entire community. Schott mentioned that the “stronger together” message resonated a lot within the program. However, the response from the community demonstrated their competitive spirit as well.

“We’re not going to let this knock us down, and we’re going to find a way to come back from it,” Schott said.

With everyone going all-in, the team was able to bounce back. For an athletic program known to have a strong reputation, it showed. The St. Mary’s girls basketball team battled back to not only have a season but also get three of their leaders back together in one of high school sports’ most bittersweet stories.

Noah Eaton is a spring intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department. He is a senior at Indiana University in Bloomington.