By Chris Parker
Hartville girls basketball has been one of the area’s most consistent teams in recent years with seven straight seasons of at least 18 wins. Last year, the Lady Eagles won 19 games before falling to Mansfield in the Class 3 District 10 tournament.
Hartville will have some key holes to fill in the lineup this year.
“We graduated three seniors, one of those being a two-year all-state player,” said Hartville head coach Steve Sanders. “We return two starters and have a few other girls that have significant varsity experience. We know that are going to have to play team basketball on both sides of the floor if we want to accomplish our goals this year. While we may look a little different on the floor, we still intended to bring our brand of basketball to the floor every day and we plan to be a very competitive team.”
The two returning starters are senior Molly Brown and junior Jenna Kelley.
Brown averaged 8.5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game last year.
“Molly has been starter the past two seasons and was voted first team all-conference the past two years,” Sanders said. “We will rely on her to take on more of a scoring role for us in her senior year. She is a good three-point shooter, and we will need her to be more aggressive attacking the rim this season.”
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Kelley was just behind Brown at 8.2 points per game to go with 7.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
“Jenna has started since her freshman year. She was all-conference honorable mention last year. We are hoping for Jenna to take another step in the right direction as so she can give us more scoring from the post and while she is a very good rebounder, we will need her to become a dominant rebounder to help us pick up some of the rebounding we graduated,” Sanders said.
Juniors Hannah Keith and Erin Still also return for Hartville.
Keith averaged 3.5 ppg as a sophomore.
“Hannah saw significant varsity minutes last year. She is a good shooter, and we are hoping for her to become a more diverse player on both ends as she steps into a full-time varsity role,” Sanders said. “Erin gave us some good minutes last year. She is a hard-nosed defender and gives us everything she has each game.”
Brey Flachsmann (senior), Jayla Ferguson (sophomore), Caitlynn Pierce (junior), Katia Todd (sophomore) and Makynna Ghormley (sophomore) will be newcomers to the lineup.
Sanders on Flachsmann: “Brey didn’t play her junior season. We are very excited to have back as she brings us size and physicality that we will need this season. We are looking for her to be another scoring option from the post and help us be a good rebounding team.”
Sanders on Ferguson: “Jayla had a chance to be a big part of our team as a freshman, unfortunately she was injured all season. She is a very athletic kid. We will rely on her to handle the ball for us and be a good defender. She has the tools to become a very good basketball player.”
Sanders on Pierce: “Caitlynn is a very good shooter and we will be looking for more consistency out of her.”
Sanders on Todd: “Katia is a hard worker and continues to improve her basketball skills. We are excited to watch her continue to develop.”
Sanders on Ghormley: “Makynna is asked to play different spots on the floor and is willing to do what she can for her team to be successful.”
This group combined with the returning players will give Hartville a balanced look this year.
“I think that we have a balanced team this season,” Sanders said. “All of our girls bring something to our program. We will still look to bring our brand of basketball to the court every night, just as we have in the past. We will once again depend on our defense to be consistent in order for us to have team success.”
Hartville opens the season on Nov. 22 at Aurora.
“We want to be a team that competes to our best ability every game. We have been fortunate to have success over the past several seasons and many of these players are a big reason for that success,” Sanders said. “It is our goal to continue to build on that success by competing for a conference and district championship.”
