The Bureau Valley and Princeton girls basketball teams have welcomed a foreign exchange student-athlete into their programs this season.

Mie Lose of Denmark is playing for the Princeton JV and Irene Raga de Ancos of Madrid, Spain is playing for the Bureau Valley JV.

Lose said she has participated in gymnastics back home “since I was probably a year old.” Basketball, however, is a different story.

“Overall, I think I’m doing fairly well, especially considering I’d hardly ever even touched a basketball before coming here,” Lose said. “Since the sport isn’t popular at all in Denmark, I came into the season with no prior experience or background knowledge whatsoever. The first few practices were definitely overwhelming because of how many basics I had to learn, but after a couple of weeks I feel like I started to catch on.

“My coach (Cory Friel) does a really good job of giving everyone on our team playing time, which I appreciate, and I’ve been able to learn a lot through playing in actual games, and not just practice.”

The funniest part of it, Lose said, is that “My parents have actually never seen me play a sport with a ball in it, and now I’ve played four months of basketball and loved it.”

Lose said the Princeton girls have made her feel right at home.

“The team environment and overall support and patience I’ve met within the Princeton program has honestly been unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve loved being a part of it for the past couple months,” she said.

Princeton varsity coach Tiffany Gonigam said the Tigresses are glad to have Lose in their program this year.

“As a coaching staff we think she is doing very well,” she said. “With her being on the JV team, she seems to be having a lot of fun and has really improved in her skills. She is very determined and it has been fun to see her growth and improvement.”

Lose, who is living with the Allen and Brittany Sledgister family, said the big sports in her homeland are handball and soccer.

“The big sport in Denmark is definitely handball, which many of my friends back home play,” she said. “I’m pretty sure the Danish men’s team in handball are currently European, Olympic and World champions actually. I feel like I had to mention that, or I would’ve failed as a Dane.

“We’re also big into soccer like the rest of Europe pretty much is, and nothing brings out the patriotism in Denmark like a summer time soccer game by our national team.”

Irene Raga de Ancos, technically a sophomore, is staying with Josh and Amber Egan’s family, playing alongside their daughter, Caitlyn. She previously played club basketball in Spain, where school teams are not offered.

She enjoys the coaches and girls at Bureau Valley and “the family that we are.”

Coming from a hometown of 3.5 million people, Raga de Ancos founds herself right at homel in rural Illinois. When asked what she like best about Bureau Valley High School, she said “the sports and that it is a small high school so I get to meet people, they include me as one more even if I met them not long ago.”

Raga de Ancos is especially taking a liking to the United States for “it’s music, sports and Thanksgiving and how friendly the people are.”

BV varsity coach Jon Henegar said Raga de Ancos is fitting right in with the Storm.

“She has a great feel and understanding for the game and has done a really nice job learning what we’re trying to do on both ends of the floor,” he said. “She is a great kid — polite, hardworking, and committed. She has been a great teammate and student all semester. We hope she has enjoyed her experience here, and we are really glad she has been part of our team."

Last-second shots

• The area girls regionals get underway Saturday with No. 4 Bureau Valley hosting No. 13 Morrison at 11 a.m. in Class 1A and No. 9 Hall playing at No. 8 Erie-Prophetstown at 11 a.m. and No. 6 St. Bede hosting No. 11 Rockridge at 2:30 p.m. in 2A.

No. 3 Princeton awaits the St. Bede-Rockridge winner at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

• The seeds for the upcoming area boys subsectionals will be announced on Thursday with the regional pairings to be announced on Friday.

Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com