After its best season in school history, Bowling Green starts the 2010-11 season with hopes of defending its 2009-10 District 14 and Region 4 titles.

The Lady Purples won’t be able to replace guards Erica Smith, Shelby Lawson and forward Tiasha Coleman, but do return Belmont signee Adrienne Tarrence at forward, sharpshooting guard Alexis Lawrence – who has signed to play at Division II Missouri-St. Louis – and Zoe Sibalich.

“Well, of course we lose three very good seniors. They all did something very differently and I could name a lot that they all did together,” BGHS coach LaVonda Johnson said. “But I felt like we still have some good quality, we just gotta get some players that are not very experienced to get up to the level of our varsity players. We still have a lot of inexperienced players, but I feel like they’re willing to work hard enough to get to that next level.”

Bowling Green lost three games last season while scoring nearly 70 points per game. Despite the gaudy numbers and being tabbed as the league favorite coming in, Johnson said her team has a long way to go.

“I think right now, we don’t have a lot of strong points,” she said. “I don’t think that there’s anything that stands out to me as a coach where I can say, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this every game.’ I think right now we gotta learn what we need to do. We’re still just learning. This is a new year.”

For the rest of the district looking up at BGHS, getting that second spot to the Region 4 Tournament is up for grabs.

Todd Tolbert is back in charge at Greenwood after coach Ken Waddell left for South Warren in the offseason.

The Lady Gators lost four starting seniors, but return forward Molly Lamb – who led the team in scoring and rebounding – and guard Samantha Sergent, who led the team in 3-point and free-throw shooting.

“I dress 10 on the varsity total,” Tolbert said of his team. “I’ve played all 10 in the two scrimmages we’ve had and I think that I am going to be able to play a lot of people. I still have about five people that are still competing for those last two starting spots.”

Tolbert said he’s expecting a double-double out of forward Dylan Carter every night. She and Lamb will be expected to control the paint for GHS.

“Rebounding’s going to be a key for us,” Tolbert added. “We’re going to have to rebound well. We’re going to have to get to the free-throw line a lot. Our ball handling is going to have to improve all year long. It’s probably one of the reasons we’re ranked eighth in the region – we have no proven guard at the point this year. People are probably going to try and press us more and see how they bother us and play a little bit more up-tempo against us.”

For Waddell, starting a new program at South has been challenging. With so much youth and inexperience, he said this preseason he’s not quite sure what to expect.

“It’s definitely a big question mark as to what kind of team we’re going to have,” he said. “But I do like what I’ve seen so far in practice. The girls do have a great attitude and probably the biggest challenge we have is us coming together. Our biggest thing is – I have good kids – but when you have so many different people that come from other schools, it just takes a little bit longer to get that team chemistry.

“That’s been a little bit different and been a little longer of a process than I had anticipated.”

Waddell will have the services of former Warren Central players Taylor Hoover, a senior, and Lariah Stockton, a junior.

“We’ve only got 18 kids and the level of experience is just so low, and when 14 out of your 18 are freshmen and sophomores, we’re going to have to take the first part of the season like practice,” Waddell said. “We’re going to find out what kind of coaches we are and how much we’re teaching in those ballgames. I know coaches always teach, but we truly have to be teaching during those games. Hopefully when January gets here some things start to click. When that happens, we’re not going to be world beaters, but I will tell you this – we’re going to surprise some people and we’re going to win a few more games than some people expect.”

At Warren East, second-year coach Jeremy Taylor is dealing with inexperience issues of his own.

“First thing’s first – we are extremely young,” he said. “Which means this entire season is not only a learning process for everybody in our program but more importantly myself. Last year we had a lot of seniors and so I demanded a lot from them because of their maturity. This year, I’ve got to realize that our young girls are going to make some mistakes and I’ve got to be patient and give them room to grow.”

The Lady Raiders lost Kate Holmes, Natalie Duncan, Mailey Young, Nicole Hendrick and Nicole Coomer off a team that finished 6-22 and nearly upset Greenwood to reach the Region 4 Tournament a year ago.

“We’re just continuing to emphasize we’ve got to get better every single day,” Taylor added. “I think some of the girls, when we get on them, they start to hang their heads and think that it’s just about what we see physically. We’re trying to develop them mentally as well.”

Warren Central will have a new look this year with new head coach Chris Stunson. Stunson will try to improve on the five wins WCHS had a season ago.

“That’s all I can ask for right now is to just see the girls improve game-to-game,” he said. “That’s really what we want to see is improvement, improvement, improvement until we get to district play.”

Stunson said he expects the Lady Dragons to be an athletic team that drives the basket and uses a full-court press on defense. Leading scorer Tierra Rigsby returns, along with senior forward Mason Donisi and junior forward Shaunice Green.

“I have to say, if there was one thing, it’s got to be mental,” Stunson added. “Can we take mistakes and let them go? That’s one of the hardest things we have right now, is when they make a mistake, they want to get down on themselves. If we can get to the point to where I make a turnover and just come back and make the next play, we’ll be a great team.”