Holmes County-area girls basketball preview: What to expect this winter

The high school girls basketball season begins Nov. 21. Here are season previews for area schools.

Hiland

The Hawks graduated a few key pieces, but plenty of talent returns.

They’ll be paced this year by junior guard Macy Mullet and sophomore guard Perryn Mishler. Senior guards Evie Mast and Tori Weaver also are returning letter-winners who will contribute offensive firepower.

“We will be more guard-oriented this season, so we have to rely on our defense in a lot of games this year,” fourth-year coach Brady Schlabach said.

Junior forward Reagan Zerger and sophomore guards Payton Yoder and Sienna Immel also will be in the mix this season.

“I think we will be playing nine to 10 kids in our rotation this year and can hopefully use that to wear teams down,” Schlabach said.

With most of last year’s top rebounders gone to graduation, Hiland will need to come up with some answers.

“We are going to have to figure out how to rebound the ball,” Schlabach said. “We lost 80% of our rebounding from last year so will need some kids to step up.”

The Hawks finished 22-5 overall and 12-0 in the Inter-Valley Conference South last season. Schlabach expects Tusky Valley to provide some solid competition this year.

“I think Tusky Valley will have a really good year,” he said. “Ellie Wallick is a very special player, and guarding her will take a full team effort.”

West Holmes

The Knights will not have a true post player this season, so they’re planning to do some different things than in the past.

Senior guard Briar Cline, senior point guard Zalina Proper, senior forward Lilli Brown, junior guards Cara McMillen and Mati Fair, and junior forward Rorie Wilcox are all back from last year’s team that went 13-12 overall and 8-5 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

They’ll be joined by a bevy of guards in seniors Cassidy Holasek and Ella Willard and sophomores Mari Patterson, Gabby Fowler, Chelsie Cooper, Emma McDonnell and Brinley Malachin.

“This season we’re excited to have several experienced players returning who will blend well with our new varsity members,” ninth-year coach Lindsy Belden said. “The combination of leadership from our returning athletes and the energy from our newcomers gives our team great balance and chemistry. We plan to play with intensity every game, focusing on strong defensive pressure and relentless effort. Our goal is to make every possession count by playing hard, working together and setting the tone with our defense.”

Learning to play aggressively as a smaller team is a work in progress for West Holmes.

“We’re working on using our speed, quickness and hustle to make up for our lack of size, focusing on boxing out, fighting for loose balls and staying tough on defense,” Belden said. “As we gain more confidence and learn to be more physical without fouling, we’re becoming a stronger, more competitive team that can hold our own against bigger opponents.”

Competing for the league title remains the standard.

“Our goal is to always win the league,” Belden said. “However, there are some really good teams in our league this year that we will have to work really hard each and every night to be at our best.”

Garaway

The Pirates struggled last year but expect to be more competitive this season.

“We will be very young (this season),” third-year coach Brooks Numbers said. “We lost four seniors last year, but we return a strong core of underclassmen who gained valuable varsity experience last year.”

Returning letter-winners include senior forward Lainey Hershberger, junior guard Charlee Yoder, sophomore guard True Tango, sophomore forward Quinn Schwartz and sophomore forward Josie Hershberger.

Promising newcomers include freshmen guards Lucy Numbers and Laynee Renicker and freshman forward Mya Maurer.

“I think our strengths this year will be our depth, energy and team chemistry,” coach Numbers said. “We will have more players capable of contributing.”

Youth and inexperience may lead to some growing pains early in the season.

“There will be a big adjustment for our freshmen playing against older high school girls,” coach Numbers said.

Garaway finished 1-20 overall and 0-12 in the IVC South last season.

“Our league is going to be competitive again this year,” coach Numbers said. “Our goal is to continue improving and hopefully surprise some people. We hope to compete with everyone we play against.”

Waynedale

Coming off a 13-12 season that landed them in fifth place in the Wayne County Athletic League, it’s tough to blame the Bears. The conference, after all, produced a state runner-up (Norwayne) and a regional runner-up (Smithville). That’s rare air for any league.

Head coach Rick Geiser’s group, just a couple of years removed from back-to-back Final Four appearances, has a very promising group back in the fold and will be heard from this season after losing just one letter-winner from a year ago.

Senior guard Kylie Geiser, a 10-point scorer, returns after being named second-team All-Inland District. Junior guard Natalie Clever also returns after earning an all-district honorable mention.

That pair is joined by senior guards Jorjia Persinger, back from an injury, and Madi Miller; senior forwards Brook Compston and Madelynn Baney; junior guards Andrey Troyer and Mya Spitler; and junior forward Bella Perry. Freshman guard Izzy Matter will look to make an impact as a rookie.

“We will be a much more experienced team having nine returning letter-winners,” coach Geiser said. “Our experiences from last season will enable us to have a lot of depth at every position.”

Geiser said the Bears will need to find some scoring, but depth at all spots allows them to show a lot of looks, so many returners should lend to good team chemistry.

Triway

Returning a variety of talented letter-winners, the Titans will look to improve upon last year’s 10-14 overall record and fourth-place finish in the Principals Athletic Conference.

Seniors Payton Snyder (guard), Alayna Perman (guard), Zoey Basker (forward) and Sydney Frank (forward) and sophomores Brookelynn Lowe (guard) and Kenasyn Garrison (forward) are all back for sixth-year coach Mike Miller.

Snyder missed last year with an ACL injury. She was an all-league and all-district second-team selection as a sophomore.

Frank will be a four-year letter-winner, earning all-league and all-district first-team honors last season.

Perman and Baker were starters last season. Senior forward Haily Browning is also slated to start after returning to Triway from being in England for a few years.

Lowe and Garrison will be key reserves, while sophomore forward Elise Wigal will be a swing player who sees lots of varsity time.

“I think experience will be a strength this year for the Lady Titans,” Miller said.

Miller said his team lacks height, which could be a bit of a weakness.

As for where his team stacks up in the PAC, Miller said Northwest is the favorite but expects his team to be “very competitive” in the conference.