Much is new for Mars girls except goal: the playoffs
ADAMS TWP — A new season has brought a new coach and a lot of new faces to the starting lineup of the Mars girls basketball team.
But come mid-February, the Planets hope to be in a familiar place: the playoffs.
Tony Howard, who assisted the Hampton boys team the previous eight seasons, took over the in June for Dave Sylvester, the Planets' coach for two years.
"The girls' character and commitment have impressed me," said Howard. "We have seven seniors this year, but not many of them have a lot of playing experience. So, in that respect, we are going to be a young team.
"But our goal is to contend for a section title."
The lone returning starter from last season's 24-4 squad is junior Lily Grenci, who will start the season at point guard after playing mostly in the frontcourt the past two years.
"She's going to run the point for us because she has the most experience," said Howard. "Plus, her ball handling is impressive for somebody who has played mostly inside."
The rest of the starting lineup features seniors Tori Gressang (shooting guard), Karly Takach (guard) and Ellen Kenitz (forward), and sophomore Elaine Hasek, also at forward.
Though the Planets lack starting experience, they don't lack height.
Kenitz and Grenci are both 6-feet-1, Takach is 6-0 and Hasek is 5-11.
"We want to win the rebound battle every game," said Howard. "We've given a personal challenge to each girl to beat the opposing player every night for the rebounds."
Defensively, Howard hopes to take a team that has traditionally played zone and mix in man-to-man defense when needed.
When Mars goes to its bench, look for sophomore guard Ashley Lynch and junior forward Kehle Pelles to get the call.
The Planets open the 2007-08 season Friday against North Allegheny in the latter's tip-off tournament.
Coach Rob Carmody is getting his team ready for a dogfight — and the Planets are planning to have a formidable bite.Mars will have three starters returning from last season's 10-13 team, including frontcourt stars Vinny Smith and Steve Cress, and point guard Chris Herold.The Planets will need to fill in the holes around that experience if they hope to contend for a playoff spot.Last season, Mars won its last four section games to finish 6-6, but just missed out on a WPIAL Class AAA playoff berth.And this season will be no easier."Playing in (Section 1-AAA) with teams like Knoch, Hampton, Kittanning, Valley, Indiana — it's going to be brutal every night," said Carmody. "I've been coaching in this league for 10 years and I don't ever remember it being this tough."Cress averaged 19.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game as a junior."There were times last season when Steve had the attitude that he just wasn't going to let us lose," said Carmody. "I'd like to see that type of play on a more consistent basis this year."Smith, coming off a sophomore campaign that saw him manage 10.2 points and nine rebounds per game, is due for a breakout season."Vinny's had the biggest improvement of any player since last year," said Carmody. "In our scrimmages (against Brentwood, Freeport and Northgate), he's been outstanding."But the Planets' offense all starts with Herold, a junior who started every game at point guard last season."Chris is the heart of our team," Carmody said. "His effort in practice is the same as it is in a game."He took 27 charges for us last year. That's a lot for a kid who's just 5-feet-8 and 170 pounds."The Planets' shooting guard will be junior Ben Szilogy, but the team still hasn't settled on who will play a combination of a guard-forward position."We have the pieces," said Carmody. "Our guys are going to have to bust their tails, but we're looking forward to it."The Planets open the season Friday against Vision Quest at the Franklin Tip-Off Tournament.
