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BOURBON - Here is what Mark Heeter, the Triton Trojan girls' basketball coach, has to look forward to this season:
• His assist leaders return.
nHis rebounding leaders return.
• His scoring leader returns.
All told, Heeter lost two seniors to graduation, Ann Hall and Amanda Hayes. And Hall played only the last few games of last season after her knee injury.
Nine letterwinners return on the roster of 12. Of the seven seniors on the team, six played on varsity last year. At least four have played at the varsity level for three years.
The other five players are juniors. Three of them have at least one year of varsity experience.
Not a bad combination to have.
"I'm thinking we have a lot of experience this year," Heeter said. "With the injuries we had last year, many of these people started at one time or another. You know, you have to think we have some good experience coming back."
Triton will start guards Rachael Yeiter and Chris Wanemacher, forwards Megan Sarber and Jessica Kintzel, and center Audra Meinert in tonight's game at South Central.
Wanemacher led the team in total points last season, averaging 11.7 per game. Yeiter and Sarber were the assists leaders, averaging three per game. Kintzel was the leading rebounder, averaging eight per game. Meinert was second with five boards per game.
"It was tough," Heeter said of picking a lineup. "Chris Scott has played well in practice, and she will probably start at some time or another during the year. We have some good depth."
If this team has one strong suit, Heeter feels it's pushing the ball upcourt.
"I see good team speed," he said. "We've been running the ball real well in practice, getting it down the floor. We've been good defensively. I hope we can rebound this year. If we can rebound to get the ball out and run, I know we can run. I just hope we get the opportunity to."
With Wanemacher's outside shooting and Meinert and Kintzel scoring inside, Heeter sees a more potent offense this year.
"I think things will be much smoother this year," he said. "We struggled last year at times and couldn't find that balance. This year, it will better."
Heeter picked the right year to have a veteran team, because the Northern State Conference title race is open.
"The two teams who were strong last year - Bremen and Jimtown - both lost a tremendous amount (of seniors)," Heeter said. "I think we have a good shot at it, with everybody back and with people above us losing so much. If I had to pick a favorite right now, I'd say Glenn is the favorite."
Winning the conference is one of Triton's preseason goals. The Trojans are in first place for the girls' all-sports conference trophy, so they would like to bring that to Triton. Doing well in the Warsaw Sectional and winning at least one of the two tournaments they are in are the two other big goals.
Triton's varsity team was 9-10 last year, the junior varsity team 13-5. Heeter hopes this year's varsity record resembles last year's junior varsity record.
"Practices have been good," he said. "I think we can have a good season. I definitely think we can be in double digits in wins. Just how many we can get, you never know. I feel good going into the season."
Name Pos. Ht. Yr
Jana Miner G 5-6 12
Rachael Yeiter G 5-4 12
Amilia Devros F 5-8 11
Wanda Miller F 5-7 12
Chris Wanemacher G 5-8 12
Alissa Welborn F 5-8 11
Kiki Hammonds F 5-8 12
Chris Scott F 5-8 11
Audra Meinert C 5-10 12
Megan Sarber F 5-9 11
Jessica Kintzel C 5-9 11
Patricia Yarian C 5-10 12
Nov. 12 at South Central
Nov. 15 Culver
Nov. 20 at Argos
Nov. 23 at CGA
Dec. 4 at New Prairie
Dec. 10 KNOX
Dec. 16 at Tippecanoe Valley
Dec. 18 BREMEN
Dec. 21 at Goshen Holiday Tour.
Jan. 10 GLENN
Jan. 13 at LaVille
Jan. 16 at Manchester
Jan. 21 PLYMOUTH
Jan. 23 Rochester
Jan. 25 at NorthWood Tour.
Jan. 30 jimtown
