SOUTH WHITLEY - The Whitko Lady Wildcats only lost three players from last year's basketball team, but those three took a lot of experience and stats with them.
Gone from last year's team are Ashley Hoopingarner, Emily Bidwell and Niki Shepherd, taking 60 percent of last year's scoring with them, as well as 64 percent of the team's rebounds.With Hoopingarner, a current player at Manchester College, Whitko not only lost a four-year starter who averaged 9.8 points, but also the team's leader.
Emily Bidwell graduated from Whitko after averaging 12.6 points and 11.6 rebounds as a senior, setting a school record of 243 career boards before enrolling to play at Grace College.
While the departure of the 6-foot-1 Bidwell will be huge for third-year head coach Rob Bell, he seems more concerned with filling the point guard position, vacated by Hoopingarner.
"This is the first time I'll have a new point guard," he said. "The head coach and point guard relationship is so pivotal in the game of basketball. It's going to be an adjustment for all of us."
With Hoopingarner hobbled with a foot injury last season, Whitko finished the season at 5-16 after the team won a school-record 17 games in 2007-08 around the nucleus of Hoopingarner and Bidwell, as well as 2008 graduates Jamie Westness and Jennaca Juillerat.
Now, with all those girls gone, Bell's looking to rebuild with a new point guard in sophomore Micaela Sylvester.
"She's definitely grown and knows all the fundamentals," Bell said of Sylvester, who started as a freshman. "Most of it's going to be about improving her control and confidence. Once she gets those things, the sky's the limit."
Helping Sylvester transition to point guard will be fellow returning starter Rachelle Kessie at center.
Last season, Kessie averaged 5.8 points and 5.4 rebounds playing alongside Bidwell, but now she will be the lone post presence.
"No player on the team has ever been the focal point," Bell said. "We need to find out who that one kid is going to be to take the big shot or have the ball in her hands at a crucial point in the game."
Joining Sylvester and Kessie as returnees with experience is the team's only senior, Amanda Allender, as well as juniors Nicole Slaymaker.
Whitko's other junior is Warsaw-transfer Danielle Rose.
"She's still learning our system," Bell said of Rose.
Bell also returns sophomores Cassie Jones, Katee Reiff and Karissa Olinske, as well as bringing up freshman Cagney Craig.
"I can't tell you what kind of a team we have," Bell said. "I can tell you they're all great kids, but when it comes to going out and playing, it's all going to be a learning experience."
And the Wildcats' early-season schedule may teach some lessons they'd rather forget.
Opening their season tonight at Central Noble, Whitko hosts Columbia City Friday and hits the road again Saturday to face Churubusco.
Then it gets ugly.
On Nov. 19 they travel to defending Class 3A state champion Fort Wayne Elmhurst, which is also ranked No. 1 in the preseason Indiana Coaches of Girls Basketball Association poll. Following that game, they host (Class 4A, No. 6) Elkhart Memorial on Nov. 21 then hit the road to face (Class 4A, No. 17) Warsaw on Nov. 27, North Miami on Dec. 5 and defending Class A state champion and top-ranked Fort Wayne Canterbury on Dec. 9.
"We need to survive November," Bell said. "I think we can be okay. I just want to survive with a shred of confidence."
After the early schedule, Whitko can focus in on the Three Rivers Conference, where Bell sees Wabash being head-and-shoulders above the rest.
"Wabash is the class of the field," he said. "I don't know if anyone will touch them. Brooklyn Short is the best player in the conference."
Before worrying about the conference, Bell is first focusing on figuring out his own team.
"We're searching for an identity," he said. "This might be on of the most coachable units we've had."
