By Tyler Henry
Salina Post Contributor
After finishing out the 2019-2020 season with a 16-8 record, the Bennington Bulldogs girls basketball team will return at strength for 2020-2021.
TJ Trout will return for his sixth season at the helm for the Lady Bulldogs.
While most teams in the state will begin their seasons on Friday, Coach Trout’s squad will be delayed, as the players are in quarantine for the first four games of the season.
This will not impact the boys season, which will begin as scheduled against Sylvan-Lucas on Friday.
As it stands right now, the Lady Bulldogs should be able to begin their season on December 15th against Lakeside.
Bennington returns a staggering six key players from last year, and will feature a veteran-heavy lineup that will look something like this.
PG: Peyton Piepho (Sr, 5-5)
SG: Kyla Kind (Sr, 5-7)
G: Alyssa Wilson (Sr, 5-6)
G/F: Regan Robinson (Sr, 5-8)
F/G: Olivia Laswon/Jaycee Downing (Jr/Sr, 6-0/5-6)
The Lady Bulldogs also anticipate a good impact off the bench from Payten Debold and Trista Watson once she is healthy.
We had a chance to visit with Coach Trout and ask him a few questions about his team heading into the new year.
Q: Your team went on a pretty good run to end last season, what was your takeaway from that year for your girls?
A: I was very excited about the season. I thought that we really had a team full of joy last year night in and night out and they really did support each other and take pride in their defense. We were really happy to be able to come out of sub-state and make it down to Manhattan but it honestly wasn’t stressful, everyone was just having fun playing the game and for that reason it was a successful season.
What would you say is your teams biggest strength this year?
We’ve been really happy with the work we’ve gotten from our returning players and with the nine freshmen that we’ve added this season. It’s been really fun to watch them grow as they’ve come up to this level.
And the team’s biggest weakness?
Chloe Stanley was really the spark of our team last year and it’ll be interesting to see who steps up and takes over that role.
Who are one or two players that you would recommend Bennington fans keep an eye on this season?
It really could be any player on any given night. That’s what I’ve really enjoyed about this group, it really could be any of our top six at any time.
What do you feel like you’ve been able to add to the culture of basketball here at Bennington High School?
We’ve always had a tremendous showing for our alumni games for both our guys and girls teams, and just the idea of getting the players to realize that there’s so much more than just them and seeing the impact of the community reminds them to be thankful for the opportunities that they get, especially in a year with Covid. We don’t want our players to have a fear of losing or making mistakes, we just want them to get out, play and use the talents the Lord has blessed them with.
With all these returning players, what is your expectation for your team this year?
We always have high expectations on the defensive side, that’s really non-negotiable for us. We’re hoping that we can gain some more confidence shooting the ball and that all of our hard work in the offseason will pay off and we’ll continue to see our numbers rise throughout the season.
The Lady Bulldogs season, pending the current situation, will begin against Lakeside on December 15th.