Preview: 2020-2021 girls basketball

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

The 2020-2021 girls’ high school basketball season is upon us and if all goes as planned, Van Wert and Lincolnview will tip off their respective seasons this weekend, while Crestview’s season will start on December 1. Below is a preview of each of the three teams.

Crestview

Fifth-year head coach Mark Gregory has a deep and talented roster at his disposal, with nine letter winners back from last year’s 15-10 (5-3 NWC) team.

The group is led by seniors Bailey Gregory, Kylie Etzler, Olivia Cunningham, Raegan Hammons, Breena Grace and Mandy Macki, along with juniors Brynn Putman and Emily Greulach, and sophomore Laci McCoy. In addition, senior Addie Longstreth, sophomore Macy Kulwicki and freshmen Myia Etzler and Cali Gregory are in the mix.

“Every girl on my roster is competing for playing time,” Gregory said. “This may be the deepest team I have had so far as head coach. We have a good mix of veterans and rookies and the best thing about this team so far is their work ethic and how well they get along.”

“It has already been a trying year with three quarantines, but our girls have taken each day and made the best of it,” Gregory added.

Cunningham is the leading returner in terms of scoring (10.8 points per game), followed by Bailey Gregory (10.0), McCoy (5.7) and Etzler (5.5). McCoy, Cunningham and Hammons are among the team’s top returning rebounders.

Under Gregory, Crestview has preferred to push the tempo and things will be no different in 2020-2021.

“We are looking to play uptempo and mix up our defenses,” Gregory said. “We have a good mix or guards and players that can post up.”

In terms of the Northwest Conference, Columbus Grove is the returning champion, but several teams are expected to be contenders this season.

“Our conference is very competitive from top to bottom,” Gregory said. “I think there are lots of teams that can compete for a conference title.”

Crestview’s season will begin on Tuesday, December 1, against Parkway.

Lincolnview

In his second year as head coach, Kyle Williams has three returning starters ready to lead this year’s squad.

Junior forward Kendall Bollenbacher (5-10) averaged 9.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last season, senior guard Annie Mendenhall (5-6) averaged 6.5 points per game and junior forward/center Zadria King (5-8) chipped in with 3.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Key returners from last year’s 5-19 (2-6 NWC) team include sophomores Makayla Jackson (5-5 guard), Annie Renner (5-4 guard) and Carsyn Looser (5-11 center), junior center Heather Beair (5-11 center) and senior forward Sami Sellers (5-8 forward).

“We have a very young group this year with losing a few girls from last year’s squad, but I am very excited that we have a very ambitious group who are looking to compete,” Williams said. “We have a lot of key returners including some of our top scorers from last year. This group of girls are fun to be around and fun to coach. They are improving at a rapid rate each day, and I believe we can compete with any team.”

Consistent scoring was an issue last season, but Williams believes improvement will be evident in 2020-2021.

“As a team we need to continue to commit and buy into our system and our style of play,” Williams explained. “We need to continue to work on handling the pressure and ultimately put ball in the hole as we have struggled offensively in the past. I believe we compete on the defensive end but we hit some dry spells on the offensive end. We need to be patient and let the game come to us.”

“Our girls are buying into what we are doing at practice and very attentive and want to get better,” the coach added. “If we play solid and do the little things, then we can compete with any team that we play. Also, we need to find ways to put the ball in the hole, I believe the style of play that we want to have this year will be very beneficial for our caliber team.”

Williams also believes the NWC race will be a competitive one this year, with a number of teams in the running for the conference title.

“I’ve always said, outside of the MAC, the NWC is an extremely competitive conference in terms of basketball,” Williams stated. “There are a lot of talented players, coaches and teams. I feel if we play to the level that we can, we could put ourselves in very good position to contend in the conference.”

Lincolnview’s season is scheduled to begin this Saturday at Continental.

Van Wert

Six letter winners are back for head coach Hannah Phlipot, who enters her second year as head coach.

The list includes three seniors – guards Carly Smith and Jaylyn Rickard, and post player Alli Schaufelberger, along with junior Carlee Young and sophomores Kyra Welch and Sofia Houg. Rickard averaged 7.0 points per game last season, followed by Houg (6.7), and Welch (6.0). Welch and Houg also averaged 4.2 and 3.4 rebounds per game last year.

“With our core group returning this season, we are excited about the possibilities this season,” Phlipot said.

Along with the six returning letter winners from last year’s 7-17 (4-5 WBL) team, Lexi Barnhart and Sayler Wise will compete for minutes on a team that will try to speed things up.

“We plan to push the tempo of the game and be the aggressor,” Phlipot said. “We love to play fast and get out in transition as much as possible but with that said, we have really worked on executing in the half court and hope to be fairly balanced offensively. We are a selfless, ‘win by committee’ type of team.”

“Our strength right now is most definitely our defense,” the coach added. “We are pretty quick and agile at nearly all positions and we plan to use this to our advantage.”

Van Wert is scheduled to open the season tonight at home against Coldwater, followed by a home game against Marion Local on December 1. The WBL opener is currently scheduled for December 3, at Celina.