Note: Columbus Grove and Leipsic previews ran with the Northwest Conference preview in Monday’s edition of The Lima News.
Continental
Division: IV
Coach: K.C. Knowles (fourth season)
2020-21 overall record: 7-15
2020-21 league record: 2-5 (sixth)
2021 postseason finish: Lost 53-30 to Kalida in sectional finals.
Returning 2020-21 varsity letter winners: Jensen Armey (Sr.), Bryn Tegenkamp (Jr.), Reese Knowles (Jr.), Liv Logan (Jr.)
Others that may start season on varsity roster: Marissa Becher (Jr.), Tori Searfoss (Soph.), Destiny Pier (Soph.), Corinne Sprague (Fr.)
Coach’s analysis: Team will be young with little varsity experience. Will be working to find some cohesion towards the middle of the season as new faces take on more roles. Hope to finish in the middle of the PCL and have the experience needed to win a tourney game or two by the end of the season.
Fort Jennings
Division: IV
Coach: Sean O’Connor (first season)
2020-21 overall record: 1-22
2020-21 league record: 1-6 (seventh)
2021 postseason finish: Lost 52-26 to Holgate in sectional semifinals
Returning 2020-21 varsity letter winners: Rachel VonSossan (Jr.), Carley VonSossan (Jr.), Abigail Browning (Soph.) , Lydia Dickman (Soph.), Hanna Grote (Soph.) , Aubrey Jacomet (Sr.), Regan Ricker (Jr.)
Others on varsity roster: Kaylee Gilchriest (Sr.), Maggie Pothast (Fr.), Abby Koester (Sr.), Autumn Calvelage (Fr.), Piper Osenga (Fr.), Christina Hubert (Jr.), Morgan Siefker (Fr.), Madison Ricker (Soph.)
Coach’s analysis: Under my first year as varsity coach for the Fort Jennings Lady Musketeers, we are excited to get the season started. Although we are a young team, we are experienced and ready. We will be doing a spread motion offense when we have the ball. We will be concentrating on a man-to-man principle defense. We will be working hard to have a successful season full of growth.
Kalida
Division: IV
Coach: Adam Huber (12th season)
2020-21 overall record: 17-7
2020-21 league record: 6-1 (tied for first)
2021 postseason finish: Lost 48-34 to Columbus Grove in district finals.
Returning 2020-21 varsity letter winners: Brooke Vennekotter (Sr.), Brooke Erhart (Jr.), Camille Hovest (Jr.), Livia Recker (Jr.)
Others on varsity roster: Amanda Unverferth (Sr.), Whitney Unverferth (Soph.) , Andrea Burgei (Soph.) , Camryn Recker (Soph.) , Kassidy Hipsher (Soph.) , Meredith Bockrath (Fr.), Ady Miller (Fr.), Allie Kuhlman (Fr.), Avrie Unverferth (Fr.), Madison Unverferth (Fr.), Olivia Meyer (Fr.)
Coach’s analysis: Once again a new year brings new excitement and expectations for us. While we will miss the players we lost, we are excited about the mix of talented experience and youth that we have to work with this season. Our schedule forces some of these inexperienced players to grow up in a hurry but we know as the season progresses if we commit to excellence and compete every day, by the end of the year, we will be playing out best basketball. We do return four letter winners from last year but really only about three that have had significant varsity action. What I do like about this group overall is we have 16 total players that are all invested in the team and working to get better every day. There is talent on our roster but a lot of it is young and unproven at the varsity level. We also think we may actually be a better shooting team than we were overall last year. We graduated a great group of seniors that averaged over 17 wins a year during their careers. That is a big loss of not only production but leadership and experience that you just can’t replicate unless you’ve been in that situation. We set the all-time school record for points per game allowed last year but with that graduating class we lost our lynch pins on that side of the ball so it will take some time to get our defensive system installed for the younger players. We also will have to do a good job of team rebounding overall.
Miller City
Division: IV
Coach: Ross Heuerman (sixth season)
2020-21 overall record: 15-9
2020-21 league record: 4-3 (fourth)
2021 postseason finish: Lost 39-32 to Columbus Grove in district semifinals.
Returning 2020-21 varsity letter winners: Abi Lammers (Sr.), Grace Pfau (Jr.), Tori Wenzinger (Jr.), Kiana Gable (Jr.), Liz Otto (Jr.), Carley Hermiller (Jr.)
Others on varsity roster: Nicolette Inkrott (Jr.), Ava Ruck (Soph.) , Isabel Reyna (Soph.) , Hailey Warnimont (Fr.), Stephanie Berger (Jr.), Maddie Erford (Soph.)
Coach’s analysis: This season we will have to replace some scoring, but we have a very competitive and disciplined group of girls that are willing to do things by committee. We feel that if we can consistently put pressure on opposing offenses and make them uncomfortable, we will be able to compete at a very high level.
Ottoville
Division: IV
Coach: Michelle Leach (third season)
2020-21 overall record: 17-9
2020-21 league record: 6-1 (tied for first)
2021 postseason finish: Lost 51-35 to Crestview in district finals.
Returning 2020-21 varsity letter winners: Shayla German (Sr.), Elise Kramer (Jr.), Skylar Turnwald (Jr.), Becca Turnwald (Jr.), Isabelle Furley (Soph.)
Promising newcomers: Dani Swint (Jr.), Eryn Kemper (Jr.), Jessa Burgei (Soph.) , Carly Thorbahn (Fr.), Erica Thorbahn (Fr.)
Coach’s analysis: We are concentrating on our defensive efforts with hope of creating a lot of scoring opportunities for us early in the year. We graduated eight seniors. Many of those seniors saw significant playing time last season. We are excited for the opportunity for our players to demonstrate their leadership as we acclimate our newcomers to the speed and intensity of varsity basketball. Our goal is to take care of the basketball, in doing so limiting our turnovers each and every game. We have a talented group of hardworking student-athletes that are motivated to compete at a high level every time we step on the court together, as well as in the classroom day in and day out. We have a lot of potential and are looking to improve in all aspects through our very competitive schedule. Our team has discussed the importance of priding ourselves on a “next mentality.” The game of basketball is fast paced and continuous. Our “next mentality’ will enable us to continue to play with positive communication, effort, grit and a next play mindset.
Pandora-Gilboa
Division: IV
Coach: Ryan Murray (first season)
2020-21 overall record: 2-21
2020-21 league record: 0-7 (eighth in PCL); 0-10 (11th in BVC)
2021 postseason finish: Lost 61-22 to McComb in sectional semifinals.
Returning 2020-21 varsity letter winners: Lacie Fenstermaker (Sr.), Tori Duling (Sr.), Hailey Dysert (Sr.), Taelor Miller (Sr.)
Others on varsity roster: Peyton Diller (Fr.), Maddie Rutshilling (Fr.), Aliyah Wise (Jr.), Lauren Teders (Fr.), Paige Fenstermaker (Fr.)
Coach’s analysis: We will be looking to compete each and every time we step on the floor.
