By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
As the Thomas More Prep-Marian Monarchs girls basketball team prepares to start the season, they find themselves in an unfamiliar position, with just one full-time starter back and having to replace nearly 80 percent of their offense from last year.
After graduating five seniors, four who were multi-year starters, Coach Rose McFarland knows her group will have to go through a bit of a learning curve in her 15th year as head coach at TMP.
The Monarchs will lean on senior Jaci VonLintel as they only returner who started every game she played in a season ago. VonLintel, who garnered some all-state honors last season, was the Monarchs third leading scorer last year, averaging 13.1 points per game.
“I feel like we got a really good core coming back,” McFarland said. “Jaci’s played pretty much every position, she can play inside outside. So, she gained a lot of experience that way, playing multiple positions.”
Fellow senior Hannah Garcia and sophomore Brooke Koenigsman started several games last season, and McFarland said that experience will help them this year.
“I feel like we've got a good core there, and they've been working hard on the court as well and trying to bring in those other kids and teach them what to do,” McFarland said.
She believes the younger girls have been able to learn from their limited experience at the varsity level and experience in the off season.
“We've got some girls that have a good basketball IQ,” McFarland said. “They played this summer together and stepped up. I thought we saw a lot of good things this summer.”
She also said the younger group of girls reminds her a lot of last year’s senior class that went a combined 37-7 the last two years combined.
“The younger kids are a group that played a lot when they were younger and they've been showing up to the summer gyms and they've got a good attitude,” McFarland said. “They showed up, they work together really well.”
The Monarchs will get a tough test right away against the defending 6A champions Washburn Rural in the first round of the Hays City Shootout Thursday. The Lady Blues open the season ranked atop the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association 6A rankings.
“I think the key for us this year is to just continue growing throughout the season. And I think we will,” McFarland said. “At the Hays City Shootout, I don't ever feel like we are ready. Even when I have an experienced team, I just don't feel like we're totally ready, but I don't know what team is. But, you know, we just got to learn from it.
“We're not going to back down on anybody (and) we're going to set our sights high and go for it,” she added.
TMP and Washburn Rural play the first game of the day at 3 p.m. Thursday in the opening round of the Hays City Shootout Thursday at Hays High School.