Wauwatosa West Girls Basketball Preview

Last year

Overall: 8-17

League: 4-13, tied for fourth

Playoffs: Lost in sectional to Whitefish Bay, 38-18

Conference: Woodland

Three pointers

1 Experience - The Trojans did not lose a player from last year's team, so they are very familiar with each other. Although Gavinski is a first-year varsity coach he has been with his players as they came up through the Tosa West system, so they are familiar with who he is and how he does things. That is a plus. They need to play as a team to be successful.

2 Shooting - Watching the Trojans shoot last year at times was painful. Forget about perimeter shooting, sometimes hitting layups was an adventure. One of the first things Gavinski talked about when hired was getting this fixed. They must succeed if they want to be successful.

3 Defense - In any sport, if a team plays good defense, it can make up for some other deficiencies. The Trojans must play an aggressive, hustling defense to also help them in the transition game.

Personnel

Coach: Ron Gavinski

Key returnees: Paige Soles, Sr.(8.0 ppg); Latasha Harmon, Jr. (7.3 ppg); Elise Ditscheit, Soph. (4.8 ppg); Jenna Engel, Sr. (4.7 ppg); Jessica Pike, Jr.(4.7 ppg); Jenna Lehmann, Sr. (4.5 ppg); Nyreesha Williams-Torres, Sr. (3.1 ppg); Maggie Boyle, Jr.(2.5 ppg); Ashley Colebourne, Jr. (2.2 ppg); Sammi Schaaf, Jr. (1.0 ppg); Megan Wendelberger, Jr. (0.00).

Key losses: There were no seniors on last year's team.

The lowdown

The Trojans bring back every kid from last year's regional championship team. But as improved as they will be, no one is going to beat New Berlin Eisenhower for the Black Division title barring injuries. First-year coach Ron Gavinski also sees South Milwaukee as the next-best team to beat. With 'some luck' Gavinski feels his team could finish third in its division. Gavinski also feels West could do well in the region for a state tournament run.

Besides all the experienced returnees, he has some talent in newcomers junior Sabelle Seabrook, sophomore Ashley Lindstrom and freshman Abbey Jones.

Schedule

Nov. 29 - Waukesha North; Dec. 2 - at South Milwaukee; Dec. 6 - Greenfield; Dec. 9 - at Shorewood: Dec. 13 - St. Francis; Dec. 16 - at New Berlin West; Dec. 20 - Brown Deer; Jan. 3 - South Milwaukee; Jan. 6 - Pewaukee; Jan. 10 - at St. Thomas More; Jan. 13 - at Whitnall; Jan. 24 - Whitefish Bay; Jan. 27 - at New Berlin Eisenhower; Jan. 31 - Greendale; Feb. 3 - Cudahy; Feb. 7 - at Wauwatosa East; Feb. 10 - Whitnall; Feb. 14 - Port Washington; Feb. 17 - at Greendale; Feb. 21 - at Waukesha West; Feb. 24 - New Berlin Eisenhower; Feb. 29 - at Greenfield