Bemidji hires Travis Peterson as girls basketball head coach

Bemidji turned to a familiar face to lead its girls basketball program, naming Travis Peterson as head coach as the Lumberjacks try to reset after a 14-13 season and the graduation of seven seniors.

Peterson’s hire follows the departure of Darin Schultz, who stepped down after four seasons in Bemidji. Schultz finished with a .500-or-better record in three of those four years, giving the program steady results before the change at the top. Before coming to Bemidji, Schultz coached boys basketball for two years at Walker-Hackensack-Akeley.

Peterson already had direct ties to the program and the building. Earlier this month, Bemidji High School’s Athletics Hall of Fame banquet named him the Jim McKeon Assistant Coach of the Year for girls basketball, a sign that he was already embedded in the day-to-day work of the team. That matters now because Bemidji is not simply replacing a coach, but trying to preserve continuity for players and families after a roster turnover that took seven seniors off the floor.

Those seniors were Ruby McKeon, Alivia Thompson, Anysia Pink, Clara Bieber, Kayce Christiansen, Olivia Birt and Abby Daman. Their exit leaves Peterson with a younger roster and a clear rebuilding task after Bemidji’s season ended with a Section 8AAAA quarterfinal loss to Elk River.

The hire comes as Bemidji girls basketball marks a larger stretch of program history. The 2025-26 school year was the program’s 50th season, and Bemidji has reached the state tournament five times since girls basketball began at Bemidji High School. Three of those trips came under Jim Wahl in 1986, 1994 and 2000, with the program adding another under Bob Luoma and Rick Kehoe in 2010.

For Bemidji families, Peterson’s local ties could matter beyond the bench. A coach with an established presence in the school and athletics community can help with participation, retention and trust at a time when the program needs to replace seniors and keep younger players engaged. Bemidji Area Schools lists girls basketball as a Tier 1 high school sport, and the district is also pushing broader athletic support through the Lumberjack Field Improvement Project Fund, a public fundraising campaign for athletic fields and practice areas. That combination of coaching stability and community investment now shapes the next phase of the program.