Talk about star power.

Plenty of standout talent returns to the Butler County area for the 2016-17 girls basketball season.

Among them are PIAA Class A Player of the Year Sam Breen of Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Jenna Kunst of Butler, Emily Hegedus of Karns City, Erin Danik of Seneca Valley, Lauren Wasylson, Nicole McCloud and Tai Johnson of Mars, Kristina DeMatteis and Alazia Greaves of Moniteau.

Here is a look at area teams:

A-C Valley

Coach: Dave Sherman, seventh season

Last year: 9-13

There are several things the Falcons must do to get back to the District 9 playoffs.

One is avoiding a late-season swoon.

A-C Valley was 8-8 last year before dropping five of its last six games and missing out on the postseason.

The slide included defeats to Moniteau, Redbank Valley, St. Marys, Karns City and Keystone — schools with considerable larger female enrollments.

“We need to realign the KSAC into Big School and Small School divisions, like they do in football,” Sherman said. “But on our part, we just need to execute and take care of business.”

Having forward Ellie Thompson back should make doing that a manageable task for the Falcons.

As a sophomore last year, Thompson made second team all-district after averaging 16.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

“She's fast, strong and tenacious,” said Sherman.

The other returning starter is sophomore point guard Olivia Boocks, who dished out 4.3 assists per contest as a freshman.

Two other sophomores — forward Kylie Eaton and guard Cami McNany — lead a talented group of returning non-starters eager to make an impact.

“These girls got a lot of playing time last year,” said Sherman. “It's a really good group and I have a lot of optimism.”

Butler

Coach: Joe Lewandowski, second season

Last year: 3-19

With no seniors on the roster, Lewandowski doesn't see an inexperienced team.

He sees opportunity.

“We're excited about what we can be,” the coach said. “I'm very optimistic. This team will be together for a while. Our girls have put in the time. They've lived in the gym.”

Gone are graduated seniors Tiana Schaffner and Melea Barlow and Kailey Olenick has transferred. But the Golden Tornado are returning four girls who were at least part-time starters last year. They are junior forwards Jenna Kunst and Alyssa Eyth, junior guard Mia Rader and sophomore forward Julia Gibson.

Kunst led the team in scoring and rebounding a year ago.

“A lot of other girls are in the mix,” Lewandowski said. “And some newcomers could change the look of our team.”

Those newcomers include sophomore point guard Audrey Hilliard, coming off a torn ACL, and 6-foot freshman forward Kylee Lewandowski.

Other players who saw action last year include Morgan Gage, Heidi Gross, Nicole Pepmeyer and Sydney Hanratty.

“We should go pretty deep and our most experienced players are the ones leading the way,” Lewandowski enthused. “Our section is as good as anybody's and we want to be competitive within it.”

C.W. North CatholicCoach: Molly Rottmann, 19th seasonLast year: 28-3There are high expectations and then there is what the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic girls basketball team will be dealing with this season.After falling short in the WPIAL Class A title game, the Trojanettes reeled off five straight state playoff wins last March to claim the state championship in Hershey.Four starters from that team — forwards Sam Breen, Dani Short and Kylie Huffman and guard Ashley Robbins — return this season.Rottmann is confident her team, which is now in Class 4A, will remain grounded in its attempt to make it back to playing in late winter.“Winning a state title is one of our goals,” she said, “but so much can happen between now and then. We have to focus on here and now. Our girls are motivated.”Breen, last year's Pennsylvania Class A Player of the Year, is primed to have a superb senior campaign, which would include fine-tuning her game.“We've talked to her about defending and moving her feet,” said Rottmann. “She is a very good defender in high school, but this time next year, she will be playing at (the University of) Dayton. I know that is on her radar.”Robbins, a junior, will run the show at point guard for the second straight season.“She had some serious responsibilities as a sophomore,” Rottmann said. “I rely on her to be my voice on the court.”Short and Huffman combined to score 17.6 points and grab 13.2 rebounds per game last season.Junior swingman Amanda Bucklew and freshman guards Tess Myers and Cassie Foster are expected to be Rottmann's top choices off the bench.FreeportCoach: Fred Soilis, second seasonLast year: 7-15The Yellowjackets have only one senior in guard Kim Mixon and forward Jenna Manke is the top returning scorer at 9.2 points per game.“We'll have five freshmen suiting up for varsity, but they are athletic girls who will make our team more athletic,” Soilis said.One of those freshmen, Sidney Shemanski, will start at point guard. Another, Madeline Clark, will join her in the starting lineup.Freeport must overcome the loss of graduated leading scorer Zoe Soilis (13.5 ppg.), who is now playing at Allegheny College. Depth will help the team do that.“Our fifth starter will come from juniors Asti Brestensky and Ashley Sullivan, or freshman Samantha Clark,” Coach Soilis said. “They're all going to play.“Our goal is to make the playoffs. We'll be able to put a lot of combinations on the floor.”Grove CityCoach: Chris Burtch, second seasonLast year: 14-9On the surface, it looks like Burtch and the Eagles have an arduous task of replacing twin threats Alexis and Brenna Deyarmin.The reality is the Eagles played nearly the entire season without Brenna in 2015-16 with a foot injury.“Brenna only played three games,” Burtch said.The Deyarmin twins, Carly Cintron and the other seniors are big losses, but the Eagles may be gearing up for another run at a region title.“This is a group I think has always felt they have something to prove and that's fuelled them,” Burtch said. “What I'm getting from all of them is incredible effort. They have been really, really impressive in practice.”Grove City will count on a couple of players who came on strong at the end of last season.Senior point guard Abby Fulkerson averaged five points and three assists per game last season, but is ready to emerge as a big part of the offense this season, Burtch said.There are also high expectations for senior forward Hannah Santom, who averaged 11 points and five rebounds per game last year.Both will also be counted on for leadership.“Abby is more of a vocal leader,” Burtch said. “Hannah just moves and works so hard in practice. She's such a great leader by example. She sort of shames the other players into working just as hard.”Seniors Carli Cook and Halle Culmer will also start.The fifth and sixth spots will come down to sophomores Abby Biddle and Lily Burtch.Biddle has a high ceiling.“Abby Biddle is a phenomenal athlete. She's coming off a great soccer season,” Burtch said. “She's someone who can finish in transition and has worked a lot on her shot and on her post moves. She's going to be counted on for a lot. She's an emerging star. She has the chance to be great.”KnochCoach: Chris Andreassi, first seasonLast year: 3-19Andreassi sees the Lady Knights as being multi-dimensional this season.“We want to push the ball up the court,” the first-year coach said. “But if nothing presents itself, we want to have the ability to settle into and run a half-court offense.”Carly Burdette will be Knoch's only senior starter and will play forward. Junior forward Kayla Grafton and junior guards Gabby Fennell, Casey Kretzer and Emily Fraser round out the starting five.Top players off the bench include senior forward Sabine O'Rorke and junior guards Anna Neff and Kayla Edwards. Sadie Siegel, a 5-10 junior “will help in the post,” Andreassi said.The coach said scoring should be balanced with Grafton and Burdette being the team's top rebounders.“We want to get better and compete for a playoff spot,” Andreassi said. “We want to be able to compete against every team we play.”

Karns CityCoach: Dave Kerschbaumer, 12th seasonLast year: 24-3The three-time District 9 champion Gremlins return three starters — and are introducing a whole bunch of freshmen.“We will have to mature and get better as the season goes on and I'm confident we'll do that,” Kerschbaumer said.Junior guard Emily Hegedus averaged 17 points, three assists and three steals per game last season. But her strongest teammate in point production, LeeAnn Gibson, is now a freshman at Slippery Rock University.Seniors Alyssa Gibson (8.7 ppg., 3.9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals per game) and Mackenzie Craig (7.5 ppg. 5.7 rebounds) return at guard and forward, respectively.“Emily and LeeAnn did a lot of things for us last yer,” Kerschbaumer said. “This year, we have to be more balanced and hopefully generated easy points the other way by forcing turnovers defensively.“A number of freshmen will dress varsity and contribute. It's a good group. They just need to gain experience.”Three other juniors — forwards Livia Andreassi and Olivia Mourer, guard Haley Scherer — will be counted on this season. Scherer is a soccer player who didn't play basketball last year.MarsCoach: Dana Petruska, second seasonLast year: 19-7There will be some unfamiliar opponents on the Mars girls basketball team's section schedule this season.Planet coach Dana Petruska sees it as a challenge and hopes her players approach it the same way.Mars is no longer section foes with Knoch, Deer Lakes, Valley and Highlands. Instead, the Planets are in Class 5A-Section 4, which does include old rivals Indiana and Hampton, but also fields Plum, Kiski Area, Franklin Regional and Armstrong.“Sometimes when you are playing the same teams over and over, you can start to take some things for granted and not play that well,” said Petruska. “What I like about the section we are in, there are some different faces. We don't know much about those teams, so we won't be taking anything for granted.”The Planets return their “Big 3” from last year's team. The trio includes senior shooting guard Nicole McCloud, junior swing player Lauren Wasylson and sophomore point guard Tai Johnson. Last season, they combined to average 41 points per game.According to Petruska, Wasylson is even better than last year. That's saying something, considering the latter scored 13.4 points per contest, drained 32 treys and was tenacious on defense.“Last year, there were times when she was out of control, picking up fouls,” Petruska said. “She is now more mature and has put so much work in. When you have that type of player, who is committed like that, you forget that she is as young as she is.”Junior guard Nichole Sommers and freshman guard/forward Bella Pelaia round out the starting five entering the season.“Everybody knows what our top three players can do,” said Petruska. “What we are asking the others is to do what they are capable of and do it well.”MoniteauCoach: Dee Arblaster, second seasonLast year: 16-9Arblaster and the Warriors hit the ground running at this time last season.They had to.Arblaster took over very late and had to learn her personnel on the fly.This year, the second-year coach in her second stint at Moniteau has a clear picture of what to expect.“They know me now and what I want,” Armblaster said. “That makes things a lot easier.”What Arblaster wants is a team that won't give their opponent a chance to breathe.Playing fast is Moniteau's new mantra.“We're going to play up-tempo,” Arblaster said. “We're going to run the floor.”The Warriors have the players to do it.They return their top three scorers in Kristina DeMatteis (15.6 ppg), Alaiza Greaves (14 ppg) and Sara Hull (8.7) and have improving 6-foot junior Emma Bair as another weapon, both inside the paint and on the perimeter.“She's worked very hard,” Arblaster said. “She can run the floor — she's quick — and she can shoot and play inside. We're excited about her.”Arblaster is also excited about the drive her team has shown already in practice.“I think they're determined,” Arblaster said. “This is their last hurrah.”Seneca ValleyCoach: Rob Lombardo, eighth seasonLast year: 16-7Lombardo readily admits that his Seneca Valley girls basketball team has a different skill set from last year's squad.But that has not tempered his enthusiasm for the upcoming season.The Raiders graduated seven seniors from last year's playoff team, including two starters and three players who stood at least 5-foot-10.“We were long and athletic last year,” Lombardo said. “We played street ball, pressing teams all over the floor, forcing turnovers and turning defense into offense.“We will not be as athletic this season, but we'll have more basketball savvy and girls who just work really hard.”The centerpiece of the current team is senior guard/forward Erin Danik, who averaged a double-double as a junior with 12 points and 10 rebounds per game.“It's her team,” Lombardo said. “Every once in a while, a high school program has a player like Erin come along — a four-year letter-winner who is the highest recruited player (Fairmont State) we've had in a long time. Her teammates and coaches will be looking to her to do a lot of things for us.”Danik joins sophomore point guard McKenna Gross and senior shooting guard Michaela Lamont as the Raiders' returning starters.Forwards Anna Sullivan and Gretchen Koken round out the team's starting five entering the season.“Kelsey Cruttenden (guard/forward) and Julie Milton (guard) will both be in the mix to get starts this season, depending on matchups.”Slippery RockCoach: Amber Osborn, first seasonLast year: 15-9Osborn, who served as an assistant coach under John Tabisz for the past three seasons, takes over a talented team loaded with seniors.Expectations are sky high.That's OK with Osborn.“We set the bar as a group high,” said Osborn, who was a star player at Grove City High School and then at Slippery Rock University during her playing days. “I think you have to set it high, especially when you have a team like the one we have with seniors and the talent level. You have to set it high and reach for it.“It's like a coach's dream to have that much experience.”The Rockets will be buoyed by the return of point guard Jenna Whitmer for a full season.Last summer, Whitmer tore her ACL and wasn't expected back at all, but appeared in limited minutes in Slippery Rock's last five games.She averaged just 2.4 points per game last season after scoring at a 15.3 ppg clip as a sophomore.“I absolutely feel she's faster now than she was before the injury,” Osborn said. “The rehab she had got her back quicker from an ACL than we expected and she's had a whole offseason. I look for her to be a big part of what we do.”There's plenty around Whitmer.Senior center Sedona Campbell is back, more than two years removed from her own ACL injury. Last year she averaged a team-leading 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.The 5-foot-11 post has also worked on her outside shooting, giving Slippery Rock another dimension.“I challenged her a lot,” Osborn said. “Her go-to spot is in the paint, but she now can come out and shoot from the oustide, too. She has the green light to do so.”Senior guard Steph Croll will also have the green light to shoot from the outside. Croll has buried 72 3-pointers the last two seasons.Osborn is most excited about the attitude of the team heading into her first season in the big chair.“They feel like they have to go out with a bang,” Osborn said.UnionCoach: Lacey Magagnotti, third seasonLast year: 11-13Magagnotti is hoping her trio of returning starters can spark a team with just 10 players on its roster.Senior guard Lexey Shick, last season's team leader with 14.8 points per game, will be joined by fellow guard Hannah Atzeni and swingman Frankee Remmick.Shick has 1,000 career points in her sights.“She's excited about that and she has the will to win,” said Magagnotti.Senior forward Taylor Adams and sophomore guard Bryn Davis will round out the starting five to start the season.Adams is the team's tallest player at 5-foot-8. Six of the Damsels' players are 5-5 or shorter.“It will look like we have five guards on the floor,” said Magagnotti. “We just have to be aggressive when it comes to rebounding. We have to box out.“Frankee started crashing the boards and rebounding really well last season. Hopefully, she can carry that over into this year.”