The New Covenant girls have a strong group of returning players to lean on after finishing last season with a 16-9 record.
Junior Alicia Batten leads that group after averaging 12.2 points 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game last season.
“She (Batten) is quick and smart, and has a real desire to get to the rim,” New Covenant coach David Anderlik said. “We have high expectations for her in several areas: Become a better distributor and feed her teammates even more than she has the last two years, and be more efficient with her outside shooting. These areas are definitely not weaknesses of hers, but as she improves, exceeding expectations in these areas will have the most impact on her team and our success.”
Three seniors will provide leadership for the Lady Warriors in Claire Cannefax, Emilee Miller and Madison Auer. Cannefax had the biggest impact on the court of that group last season. She led the team in rebounding with 8.7 per game. She added in 8.4 points per contest.
Anderlik has big expectations for her in her senior season.
“She (Cannefax) has a chance to put up conference MVP-type numbers, and is so mentally tough that she doesn’t give in to any situations on the floor,” Anderlik said.
Juniors Susan Cha and Deborah Seale also return this season. Cha averaged 8.3 points per game as a sophomore.
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Three new players could have a big impact for New Covenant. Lillie Bodeen transferred in from Aurora for her sophomore year. Anderlik described her as an excellent rebounder who can also shoot and defend. Olivia Lynch was home-schooled last season and joins the Lady Warriors for her junior season. Isabel Rohlfing will be a top player for New Covenant if she is eligible after transferring from Willard.
This group will look to control pace with great defense and rebounding.
“Defense and rebounding, as well as tempo/pace of play are some of our strengths. We need to continue to get better here to make these areas a real factor in games. We are also a very intelligent team and we need to better transfer this to game situations, which I saw a big improvement in during the summer,” Anderlik said.
Anderlik will look for an increased scoring punch this year.
“Going into last year, we lost 34 points per game in scoring from graduation and transfers, and gained nothing except improved returners, so we struggled offensively,” Anderlik said. “That needs to change this year for us to compete at the high level we expect to play at this year for us to see the success we envision.”
The new players will have to mesh with the returners for New Covenant to be successful, but Anderlik doesn’t think that will be a problem at all.
“We will be a very balanced squad. We always put God first in all we do, our players love the game but love each other more, and that unity is a big part of what we do on the court. We know that no matter what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, our relationships with God and each other trump any win or loss,” Anderlik said.
All of these factors have expectations high for the New Covenant girls this year.
“A conference championship is within reach, though there are some hills to climb,” Anderlik said. “We also have our eyes on a district championship, but if we focus on those things that we can control and do them to the best of our abilities consistently, then we will take our chances against anyone.”
The New Covenant girls open the season on Nov. 16 at Sarcoxie.
