The Warren East girls’ basketball team made a lot of history last season.

Warren East went 26-5 to secure the first 20-win season since 2006-07, won 20 straight games for the first time in program history and secured its first district tournament title in 17 years.

Still, the ending wasn’t quite what the Lady Raiders hoped for — with Todd County Central beating Warren East in the opening round of the Region 4 Tournament.

With most of the same cast returning, Warren East is looking to add a little more history this season — building off last season’s success while avenging the bitter finish.

“We are very excited for a new season,” Warren East coach Jenny Neville said. “We had a great season last year, but we weren’t satisfied. We felt like we fell short of our goal — to get to the region final and win it. That’s our goal this year and we absolutely feel like we can do that.”

Warren East returns five seniors, including the top four scorers. Sam Carver led the way with 10.2 points a night, but Madison Lawson, Lydia Jones and Kennedy Lawson all averaged between 9.2 and 8.7 points. It’s the kind of balance that Neville said she hopes will continue this season.

“We felt like our system worked,” Neville said. “They can’t just key on one girl and say that is who we are going to have to guard. Any of these ladies can score. We will stick with the same (philosophy) — which is don’t be selfish. Share the ball. Pass the ball. I feel like that will be a system that will work for us.”

The Lady Raiders do lose leading rebounder Rae Ellen Jones as well as Rileigh Jones — to leave a huge gap in the paint. Senior forward/center Keyoni Collins will look to fill that void after averaging 6.1 points and 2.7 rebounds last season. Sophomore forward Brelynn Wardlow appeared in 26 games last season.

Sophomore guards Autumn Brooks and Jordan Brooks are also expected to contribute after appearing in 11 games each last year.

With plenty of pieces in place, Warren East heads into the season optimistic — but also aware the challenge will be even greater in a tough District 15 and an even tougher region. Barren County, Allen County-Scottsville and Glasgow will all look to challenge in the district with Franklin-Simpson, Bowling Green and Metcalfe County among the challengers in the region.

“Rankings, which were motivation for us last year, are the same this year,” Neville said. “The 15th District is tough. As you can see if you go back and look at the scores last year, every game was tough. We have to know that last year is over. Although we made some great strides, we have to be humble and be ready to play each game.”