Last year was all about the new for the Meadow Heights girls basketball team, but in 2015-16 the program will have a little familiarity to lean on, and the Panthers hope that helps them continue to take a step forward.

Coach Rhonda Miller stepped into her role a year ago and took the reins of a varsity team for the first time in her career. Now she'll have that experience under her belt and a chance to get more of a jump start on this season.

"Last year was my first year coaching varsity sports ever, after 26 years of teaching," Miller said. "So this year I do feel more prepared and I feel like I know the team better. We have several returning players, so that helps a lot. We've just worked really hard all summer and have had a good start to the season with our first practice week. So everything seems to be falling into place."

Meadow Heights will have to replace two critical starters in Emma Cook and Kiana Hotop, but the rest of the roster is a year older. Two starters return in Abi Bristow and Sam Miles, underclassmen who were asked to start at a young age. That pair will certainly form the core of the lineup that will feature some depth at the guard position.

"Abi is our ballhandler and a pretty strong guard," Miller said. "She scored pretty well last year. She wasn't real consistent, but there were games she would score double digits. Sam was a very young player last year; we needed her to start. She didn't have any varsity experience last year, so she has really improved a lot.

"We have probably about six guards who are all really equal as far as ball-handling skills. Some have strengths in passing while others have strengths in defense. It will probably be a game-to-game situation, at least at the beginning of the season, to see who will be the starters and who will be the fifth, sixth and seventh players."

One of the options inside will be junior Jacque Starkey. Her presence -- and size -- will dictate some of what the Panthers do on defense, where they plan to be versatile and switch things up depending on what personnel is on the floor at any given time.

Offensively, Meadow Heights is focusing on making some tweaks that Miller hopes will help her side move on after the departure of Cook and Hotop, who often did the heavy lifting on that side of the floor.

"We're opting to run more of a motion-type offense this year," Miller said. "We've been working on that a lot in practice to try to get more ball movement. Last year I felt like we really just depended on those two guards that we lost -- Kiana and Emma -- and we really didn't have a lot of quick ball movement. That's really what we're stressing in practice right now."

Players to watch

Bristow appears most poised to step into a much bigger role this season after already gaining two years of starting experience. On a team that continues to build around youth, that will be an invaluable asset.

"It looks like she has a lot more confidence. We depended on Emma and Kiana so much ... but I think with them gone she's stepping up to the position she needs to," Miller said.

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Class 2 District 3

Conference

Mississippi Valley

Head coach

Rhonda Miller

(2nd year)

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ROSTER

No. Player Year

2 Kassy Henson 11

4 Karli Lanigan 9

12 Abi Bristow 11

13 Hope Dietiker 10

15 Dinah Wahlers 9

21 Mollie Welker 10

22 Sarah Bristow 10

23 Janie Cook 10

24 Sam Miles 11

25 Jaycee Whitener 10

33 Jacque Starkey 11

34 Mayzie Thompson 11

50 Tatum Bollinger 10

52 Yasmine Simmons 11

STARTERS GONE

Emma Cook

Kiana Hotop

Kylee Whitener

STARTERS BACK

Sam Miles

Abi Bristow

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SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time

11/23 Valley 7:30 p.m.

11/24 @North County 7:30 p.m.

11/30 Valley Holiday Tourn.

12/8 @Perryville TBA

12/14 @St. Vincent 7:30 p.m.

1/4 Delta New Years Inv. Tourn.

1/11 Lesterville TBA

1/14 @South Iron 6 p.m.

1/19 @Puxico 5 p.m.

1/21 Woodland 7:30 p.m.

1/25 Oran 7:30 p.m.

1/30 vs. Viburnum 11:30 a.m.

2/1 @Delta TBA

2/5 @St. Paul Lutheran TBA

2/8 @Chaffee 7:30 p.m.

2/10 Scott City 7:30 p.m.

2/15 @Bismarck 7:30 p.m.

2/18 Saxony Lutheran 7:30 p.m.

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LAST SEASON

RECORD

8-17