AKRON - In recent seasons, it wasn't uncommon for Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball coach Gary Teel to put four taller, interior players and just one guard out on the court.
That won't be the case this year, as the Lady Vikings' roster is full of much shorter players than in years past."We're going to be small this year," said Teel, who takes a 149-98 record into his 12th season at Valley. "We're going to be a quicker team. We're going to have more overall team speed, and I think that's going to afford us opportunities to play differently offensively and defensively. At times before, we'd only have one guard on the floor. This year, we're more likely to have four guards and a post player out there."
Last season, the Lady Vikings were 11-10 overall and 7-0 in the Three Rivers Conference.
Over the past three seasons, Valley boasts an 18-3 record in conference play. A big part of that success was the front-line play of Melody Hoffer, Stacie Hoffman and Whitney Sparkman.
Those front-line players, however, were lost to graduation.
Gone with that trio, which helped bring the program two sectional championships and two conference titles, are nearly 1,400 career points and almost 960 career rebounds.
"Those three kids played varsity since they were freshman," Teel said of Hoffer, Hoffman and Sparkman. "They helped us win two sectionals and two conference championships. They were a big part of our success for four years. We"ve got some big voids to fill."
Big voids in more ways than one.
Not only did that trio put up big numbers for the Lady Vikings, they brought size to the court.
This year's Valley girls basketball roster will be much different in their departure, as it has just two girls listed as taller than 5-foot-9.
The Lady Vikings' 10-person varsity roster is made up of seniors Hannah Boggs (5-4), Kate Myers (5-10) and Ashley Sheetz (5-6); juniors Taylor Gast (5-7), Becky Minnick (5-5) and Alex Rockhill (5-9) and sophomores Staci Groom (5-6), Tory Keirn (5-7) and Brooke O'Connor (5-10) and freshman Courtney Newsome (5-9).
Also gone from last year's conference championship team is junior Allison Thacker, who transferred to Triton. Thacker scored six points per game last year, and also averaged two assists and two rebounds per game for the Lady Vikings.
Among the players returning, Myers scored the most points last season, averaging 10 points per game. She was the Lady Vikings' second-leading scorer last season and posted a season-high of 20 points.
Hannah Boggs averaged seven points per game last season and also had a season-high of 20 points in one game.
"Kate Myers and Hannah Boggs are our top scorers returning," said Teel. "As seniors, and along with Ashley Sheetz, another senior, they've done a great job with leadership."
The Lady Vikings open the season tonight when they host Bremen.
Valley opens opens conference play at Wabash on Dec. 5.
"Wabash is the favorite," Teel said of the TRC. "Last year, our kids had a goal of winning the conference, and they were dedicated to that and brought it to fruition. If we want to win the conference again, we're going to have to work hard and play as a team."
After tonight's season opener, the Lady Vikings host Oregon-Davis Tuesday and Warsaw on Nov. 20.
