SYRACUSE - Because she is the oldest and most experienced on a team filled with underclassmen, Wawasee High School girls basketball coach Kem Zolman calls Tiffany Fick the "grandmother of the group."

Indeed, the 5-foot-9 Fick is the senior member of Zolman's 2005-2006 Warrior team.

In fact, she's the only senior.

Fick returns for her senior campaign after scoring 11.7 points per game and pulling down 8.8 rebounds last year for the Warriors, who finished the season 14-9 overall, 5-2 in the Northern Lakes Conference and fell 42-29 to rival NorthWood in the sectional championship.

Rachel Canen was last year's leading scorer at 12.5 points per game and was lost to graduation.

Like Fick this year, Canen was the only senior a year ago.

"Rachel will be missed because she could see the floor great," said Zolman, who 108-52 entering his ninth season with the Warriors. "We need to find someone to fill that spot. She could make plays. She was the only senior with young kids."

Now Fick is the only senior, but while the players around her are still underclassmen, they're a little more experienced heading into this season.

"I'm real pleased with our progress," Zolman said of how his team worked in the offseason and how far they've come since last season's final game. "They look like a seasoned team. We're making progress."

Other returning players that saw significant playing time last year include freshman Kalyn Lantz and juniors Megan Walker, Shawn Knafel and Jessie Wolf.

Wolf averaged 8.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game last year, while Lantz averaged 5.2 points and 3.6 assists per contest.

Six-foot Elizabeth Olson will join the varsity squad this year. She played in three varsity games last season.

"We definitely have a leader in Kayln and we definitely have a leader in Tiffany," said Zolman. "They've worked together amazingly well. Kalyn runs everything (from her point guard postition) but she respects Tiffany's experience."

Zolman also noted that the team respected the work effort that Knafel, listed on the roster at 6-1, showed in the offseason.

The remainder of Wawasee's nine-player varsity roster is filled out by freshmen Kylee Ort, Brennan McAdams and Taylor Goshert.

Likely to find their way into the starting lineup are Fick, Knafel, Lantz, Walker and Wolf.

A year ago, because of injuries and inexperience, the Warriors were basically a five-man team in the sectional.

This season, however, the numbers are up in the Wawasee program.

Zolman said he sees the program back to where it once was, and that in the near future freshman will play on the freshman team and sophomores will make up the junior varsity team, unless underclassmen earn a spot on the varsity team.

"We've got numbers," said Zolman. "Last year in the sectional we basically had 5-1/2 players. That's what we survived on. This year we have eight or nine players. It's been a while since we've been able to go to the bench."

Wawasee opens the season Friday when they host the Westview Warriors, followed by another home game Tuesday with Lakeland. Wawasee's first road game is scheduled for Nov. 19 at Fairfield.

The Warriors open their Northern Lakes Conference schedule Dec. 9 at Goshen. [[In-content Ad]]