The Centre High girls’ basketball team has six seniors and letter-winners back from a team that went 17-5 in Kelly Steiner’s first year as coach. They are: back row (from left), Brooke Carlson, Justine Jennings, Kylie Burhoop; front row, Samantha Alvarez, Amy Hajek and Shelby Deines.
The Centre High School girls’ basketball team enters its second year under Kelly Steiner having posted a 17-5 regular season record before flaming out against Hope in regional play in 2006.
In 2007, the Cougars will lean heavily on senior Kylie Burhoop to provide a veteran presence on the defensive glass.
“Kylie brings leadership with her,” Steiner said. “She works hard in practice and sets a good example for the underclassmen.
“She is also a very good rebounder,” Steiner added.
Burhoop, a 5-foot, 7-inch guard and the team’s only returning starter, averaged 8 points per game.
Samantha Alvarez, a 5-4 senior, will play a more significant role with the varsity this season than she did last year.
“Samantha got some varsity time last year, and we expect her to help us out at guard,” Steiner said. “We will need her to score more points this year.”
Shelby Deines lettered as a freshman and will be listed at forward as a 5-7 sophomore.
“Shelby played a lot of ball this summer,” Steiner said. “She could end up playing almost any position for us.”
Brooke Carlson, a 5-8 senior forward, will add to the Cougars interior presence.
Carlye Simons will take over at point guard.
“Carlye will be counted on to take care of the ball,” Steiner said. “She played a lot of ball this summer, which has helped her.”
Simons is a 5-5 sophomore.
Leann Pankratz is a 5-9 junior who, according to Steiner, “has a lot of potential.”
Pankratz will also play at forward.
“We will have a lot of positions to fill,” Steiner said. “We graduated eight seniors and four starters from last year’s team.”
But Steiner does not expect that the losses will overshadow the returners.
“I’m optimistic that with the girls we have coming back, we can still be competitive,” he said.
But Hope may be significantly improved, even after taking the league title last year.
“They have everybody back from last year’s team that won 20-some games,” Steiner said. “But the rest of the league should be pretty much balanced after that.
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