The 2022-2023 basketball season turned out to be a memorable one for the Holtville High girls.

The Bulldogs won the Elmore County basketball tournament for the first time in school history and notched a record 27 victories.

The key?

The addition of 6-foot-3 guard/forward Julie Nekolna, a foreign exchange student from the Czech Republic.

Nekolna brought her talent to America to become more independent, broaden her mind and increase her opportunities. She accomplished all of that.

“When she came here, she was more finesse. She can handle the ball, shoot the 3 and score inside,” Holtville head coach Jason Franklin said. “She’s an all-round good player.”

Knowing Nekolna had been playing high level basketball in Czech Republic, Franklin obviously was excited that she chose to relocate to Deatsville.

“Having a player like that just show up at our school and change the landscape of your basketball team was pretty awesome,” Franklin said.

He didn’t wait around to let Nekolna know of his plans for her.

“We’re going to allow you to open up your game,” he told her. “We allowed her to play more freely than she was accustomed to. Once she got used to that, she took off.”

In her only season as a high school player in this country, Nekolna averaged 21.9 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.6 blocks and 2.6 steals per game. She became the first girl in school history to garner All-State honors and was one of the three finalists for the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 5A Player of the Year Award.

However, her success was not immediate.

Although she had a lot of prior basketball knowledge when she arrived at Holtville, Nekolna had a transition to make since the game in Europe is much different than it is in America.

“It’s not as physical over there, so for her to adjust to playing the physical brand of basketball that we play in America took some growth,” Franklin said.

Franklin told Nekolna if she didn’t adjust quickly to the change in styles, she would struggle in Alabama.

“It took her a couple of weeks of practice to realize that, if you do make the shot with contact, the officials here in America will give you the ‘and-1′ a lot of times,” Franklin said of possible three-point plays.

Franklin said he called a timeout during a game early in the season and told Nekolna not to pass up scoring opportunities around the rim.

“I had to tell her that, around here, we don’t pass up wide-open opportunities to score,” he said. “If you’re covered, yes, you pass the basketball. If you are wide open, you take the shot.”

Franklin said he had to make sure Nekolna knew she didn’t have to be nice all the time if she saw an opportunity to score.

When describing the difference between playing European basketball and American basketball, Nekolna pointed out that European basketball is more “collective.”

“I would say that it’s easier to score here, but at the same time, you must have the confidence to shoot the ball,” she said. “I used to pass the ball too much but coming here gave me so much confidence.”

As she adjusted to the change, Nekolna’s confidence grew.

“She just started to get more confidence in practice and in understanding what we were asking,” Franklin said. “We put a lot of responsibility on her because she is a tremendous ball-handler and a mismatch for someone her size.

“She did a good job of elevating the other girls’ play and increasing our competition level. Before she got here, we would’ve never gone off and played in a Christmas tournament at the beach. She elevated us to a new level.”

Nekolna, a Sheldon State signee, started playing basketball in the third grade with her father’s encouragement and admits to watching a lot of NBA legend Michael Jordan and current Washington Wizard Tomáš Satoranský for inspiration.

One of her more memorable moments came against Wetumpka when she finished with 25 points.

“I had a bad first half,” she said. “We were down by double digits, but we didn’t give up. We came back to take the lead in the second half and won the County Championship, which was the first ever won championship by Holtville girls’ basketball program.”

Though her journey is just beginning, Nekolna said coming to America was a monumental step.

“You have to believe in your goals and believe in yourself to achieve them,” she said.