BOURBON - The Triton Trojans experienced something a little foreign last year - a losing season.
"We obviously want to rebound from last year," Triton coach Paul Walker said, referring to last season's 7-14 mark. "That's not the type of record this program and this community is used to."Gone from last year's team are the graduated Emily Sauer, the team's leading scorer and Brittany Mason. Making things even tougher for the Trojans are the absences of Kassie Soriano, Brooke Blackford, Megan Dean and Jeri Woudema, all of whom would be seniors on the team this season.
"We've talked about working hard," Walker said of his young team. "So far, everyone's been working hard and that's good. It's important that people are supporting each other."
Point guard Jessica Ganshorn will be Walker's lone senior this year, with juniors comprising a majority of the roster with Paige Davis, Bethany Lemler, Kelsey Bessinger, Taryn Cooper, Bethany Shively and Kayla Tutorow.
"We have people trying to fill in new roles," Walker said.
Either through their play or their experience, Ganshorn and Davis will be key components to the Trojans. Davis returns as an All-Northern State Conference player, with Ganshorn being named an All-NSC honorable mention player a year ago.
"They should be a large part of our leadership," Walker said.
Last season, the Trojans struggled if their shot wasn't going in, something Walker hopes to avoid in 2007, so team play is going to be instrumental.
"We're going to need to block out and not allow the ball to get inside the lane," Walker said of his defensive philosophy. "On offense, we're also going to have to work the ball around to find the open person. We can be effective if we help each other."
And with Triton's tallest players being Davis and Tutorow, both coming in at 5-9, a quick, aggressive defense may be needed to get some easy buckets on the other end.
"Defense is gonna be important," Walker said. "We need to limit possessions and make it tough for the other team to score. Hopefully, we can also get some steals, which generally leads to some points."
In the NSC, where Triton sports the smallest enrollment among the half-court squads, the Trojans face some stiff competition, but none too overpowering, outside of perhaps Class 2A's fifth-ranked Jimtown Jimmies.
"I'd have to tag Jimtown as the favorite," Walker said of the NSC outlook. "Knox will also be tough, along with John Glenn. There's a lot of balance outside of the top one or two teams. Knox may be a little better than the rest, but you never know."
And without much experience, Walker will know what he has after his girls' first game at North Judson tonight, a game that was rescheduled from Friday because of the Triton football team's regional game in Churubusco.
"I hope teams do take us a little light early on, but I also hope we get a little momentum going early and grab some wins," Walker said.
