By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After finishing the 2019-2020 season with a final record of 15-6, the Salina Central Mustangs girls basketball team is reloaded and ready to go for another big year.
Chris Fear returns for his fifth season as the head coach of the Lady Mustangs.
When Salina Central tips off against Haysville Campus at Central High School on Friday, their starting lineup will look something like this.
G: Landry Stewart (Jr, 5-9)
G: Aubrie Kierscht (Jr, 5-6, committed to Navy, 17.2 ppg in 19-20)
G: Mykayla Cunningham (So, 5-9)
F: Hampton Williams (Jr, 6-0, committed to Abilene Christian)
C: Chaliscia Samilton (Jr, 5-11 7 ppg in 19-20)
The Mustangs will also get some help off the bench from Freshmen Callan Hall and Tyler Vidricksen as well as Lexie Fischer and Anyah Polk-Darby
We had a chance to speak with Coach Fear and ask him some questions about his Lady Mustangs heading into this season.
Q: What would you say is your teams biggest strength heading into this year?
A: I think our starting five is one of the best in the state, we have a lot of talent there. We’re pretty explosive offensively, we can run the floor very well, we have girls who can shoot it well and get to the basket and that makes us very hard to defend.
And your biggest weakness?
One of the biggest question marks that I have going in is “are we going to rebound well enough”? We don’t have a ton of size for a 5A program, so when it really gets physical we need to make sure that we’re tough enough to really rebound and defend well.
Give me one or two players that you think Central fans should really keep an eye on this season?
I would say Aubrie Kierscht and Hampton Williams. They’re both Juniors who have been playing and starting since they were freshmen. They have a lot of experience in our program and even though they’re juniors they will be able to help lead us. They’re not intimidated by anything and I think they’re both going to have really good seasons.
What have you tried to do to add to the basketball culture at Central High School?
When I got here there were already several years of success and state tournament runs that had come before me. Goeff Andrews did a really nice job getting this program going and my job was to make sure that we continued and enhanced that. What we’ve tried to do is foster a really good culture of family or as we call it, “one mustang” here at Central. I think if you’re talented and you have a good culture you have a chance to be wildly successful.
What is your expectation for your team heading into this season?
I think we have really high expectations, we’re still trying to figure out what that means but if we can reach our potential and learn to be unselfish and trusting of each other I think the sky's the limit. I think there’s an opportunity to play all the way to the very last game of the season.
The Lady Mustangs will tip off against Haysville Campus on Friday at 6:00 from Salina Central High School.