By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After a nearly perfect 24-1 season in which their lone loss came in the state championship game, the Salina Central girl’s basketball team will look to reload and run it back for the 2022-23 campaign.
The Lady Mustangs will once again be under the direction of head coach Chris Fear, who enters his seventh season at the helm of the program.
Central graduated four big seniors over the offseason, but returns a great deal of talent for the upcoming year, with a new starting five that should look something like this come tip-off.
G- Callan Hall (Jr)
G- Tyler Vidricksen (Jr)
G- Elle Denning (Jr)
F- Azbey Peckham (Jr)
F- Brynn O'Hara (Sr)
The Lady Stangs will also look for big minutes off the bench from Maylin Owen (Jr), Saniya Triplett (Jr), and Kendyl Gary (Jr).
Before the start of the season, we had a chance to catch up with Coach Fear and get his thoughts on this year’s Lady Mustangs.
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the 2021-22 campaign?
A: We had an outstanding season, arguably the best in Salina Central basketball history. We posted a perfect regular season, won the most games in school history, and achieved a number-one ranking for eight weeks during the season. We came up just short of winning the state championship but it was a very satisfying year. That group had played a lot of varsity basketball over the last four years and their experience showed up night after night.
Q: How excited is everyone to get back on the floor and back to playing real games after a long offseason?
A: This team is very excited to establish its own identity. We have a lot of people doubting us and that’s providing a great deal of motivation. The expectations in our program do not change. It's been a fun pre-season for us and we’re ready to get on the floor and see what our group can do.
Q: Coming into the year what would you say is the biggest strength of this team?
A: We have a group that is going to play really hard and compete. I think defensively that we have a chance to be disruptive and cause problems for our opponents. I also feel like our athleticism is a strength. We should be able to run the floor very well both offensively and defensively.
Q: What are the biggest question marks about this team as we head into the first few weeks?
A: We don’t have a lot of size so we will have to work very hard to be a good rebounding team. That is going to be a challenge for us. We also need to establish our roles within the team, we have five new starters so we will need to play and learn early. I like our ability but early on there’s going to be an adjustment phase.
Q: What are the goals and expectations of this team for this 2022-23 campaign?
A: My thought for any team is that we become the best that we can be. Our expectation is that we are going to win games and be successful, that does not change for us. This team is going to grow and change tremendously as this season moves forward and I’m really excited to see what this team can become.
Central will kick off the new season on Friday, December 2nd when the Lady Mustangs travel to Maize for a meeting with the Eagles.
For continuing coverage of Central girl's hoops all season long, stay tuned to the Salina Post.