Click here for more 2012-13 girls' basketball previews.
COACH: Dan Cotchen (1st season).
ASSISTANT COACHES: Luke Carlino, Colleen Jackson, Nikki Ober, Bruce Shepps.
LAST SEASON: 12-4 Section 3 (champs), 15-9 overall (Lost to Hempfield 33-31 in an L-L League quarterfinal game; lost to Susquehanna Township 45-34 in a District 3 AAA first-round game).
KEY PLAYERS LOST TO GRADUATION: Breanna Barber (6.2 points per game), Lindsay Fink (4.4, 20 3-pointers), Morgan Mummau (6.6, 36 3-pointers), Maddy Novak (7.2, 3 3-pointers; missed final 10 games with knee injury), Taylor Stoltz (1.8), Renee Wiegand (11.1).
KEY PLAYERS RETURNING: F Kelli Barber (Jr.), F Logan Newcomer (Sr.), G Caroline Novak (Sr., 4.6; missed final 15 games with knee injury), G Olivia Novak (So., 0.8), F Danielle Ober (So.), F Sarah Painter (Jr., 0.9), G Kristen Robeson (Sr., 2.0, 6 3-pointers), F Lauree Wiegand (Jr., 1.0).
STRENGTHS: Senior leadership and, according to Coach Cotchen, attitude.
WEAKNESSES: Varsity experience.
QUOTABLE: Dan Cotchen - “Being a young group we have to work through the early part of the season, finding our roles and where our abilities benefit the team. As we accomplish this I think we will grow as a squad and become a better team by late January.”
NOTABLE: Welcome aboard, Dan Cotchen. He replaced Tom McCabe, who spent just one season on the Barons’ bench. And it was a successful season for Manheim Central, which won the Section 3 crown and went to Districts last winter. Cotchen, the former head girls’ basketball coach at Ephrata, spent the last couple of seasons as an assistant for Solanco’s girls’ team. And the Golden Mares had plenty of success with Cotchen on board. … While the Barons tasted success last season, two words could describe their campaign in a nutshell: Injury riddled. Sisters Maddy and Caroline Novak each suffered season-ending knee injuries in January, which fouled up the Barons’ rotation. Still, they hung tough, fended off Lampeter-Strasburg with an unbelievable comeback on the last night of league play, and won Section 3 in gritty fashion. … A big chunk of that group has departed, including sharpshooters Morgan Mummau and Lindsay Fink and glass-crasher/jumping-jack Renee Wiegand, who was all over the boards. … Another Wiegand - Lauree - will be called upon to crash like her big sis, and Caroline Novak, who can score and distribute, returns after blowing out her ACL. She’ll be flanked by Kristen Robeson, who has plenty of varsity minutes under her belt. Pretty much everyone else is a newbie. Coach Cotchen said during the preseason that things were a work in progress, and that he was still trying to find the right combinations heading into the opener.
REINHART SAYS: Gut says it’s going to take some major work for the Barons to defend the Section 3 crown. But there are some good pieces here - especially if Novak can round back into shape - and Coach Cotchen said he loves his team’s attitude in the early going. Might be some growing pains early on, but methinks Manheim Central will be heard from before it’s all said and done. Just not ready to put the bull’s-eye on the Barons just yet.
JEFF REINHART: jreinhart@pnco.com
ON TWITTER: @JeffReinhartPN