WINONA LAKE – Despite graduating just one senior, the Lakeland Christian Academy girls basketball team is still quite young this season. Gone from last year's 9-18 team that reached the final four of the Indiana Christian Schools Tournament is Shana Messmore, but 11th-year coach Jay Lavender likes what he has back, led by senior Jo Boren. "She's our one senior, and someone I think is a strong candidate to make the all-area team," Lavender said about the 5-foot-11 Boren. "She averaged 12 points and eight rebounds as a junior and also had a 21-point, 14-rebound game in the regional of the Indiana Christian Schools state tournament. She's 5-11, but also very quick. She's really good at rebounding her own misses and getting putbacks, by just jumping so quick." Boren will undoubtedly be the leader of the Lady Cougars this season, and she will guide a varsity team comprised of five juniors and a sophomore. Returning to the starting lineup along with Boren are juniors Hailey Nieveen and Alisa Gross, as well as sophomore Hannah Remington. "Our guards are quick with Hailey Nieveen and Jessica Goss," Lavender said. "(Junior) Emilee Catron also supplies a good mixture at the guard position, allowing us to play with a lot of energy." The quick guards will be vital in a Lady Cougars' attack that will feature an uptempo offense. "We'll get our offense from our defense," Lavender said. "The girls are good at getting up and down, and trying to score rapidly. Our focal point will need to be rebounding and being able to shoot the ball." Along with Boren in the post, other inside players will be junior Frani Gerst and Gross. "Frani Gerst is a missionary student, so she's a new junior for us," Lavender said. "She's becoming more and more familiar with basketball and she continues to improve each day. "With Gross, we'll be looking to her for putback points," he added. "She's also a good weak side defender." Remington came on strong at the end of last season, and with a year now under her belt, Lavender is looking for good things from the 5-7 guard/forward combo player. "She's really getting used to the game and understands the game very well," he said. "I'm looking for her to make some big shots this year." The rest of the LCA roster is comprised of players that will mostly fill out the junior varsity team, including junior Megan Land and freshmen Emily McCoomb, Joselyn Helton, Gretta Schneider, Maryl Gerst and Ashley Ormsby. "At the beginning, I thought we'd need to make a couple cuts, because of ability, but I found out I wouldn't need to," Lavender said. Playing in the second-year of a two-season probationary period to become an IHSAA-sanctioned team, LCA has many more public schools on its schedule this season, beginning at Northfield tonight. "We only have 85 students in our school, so we're a pretty small Class 1A team," Lavender said. "Every non-home schooled team we play is going to be bigger than us, besides Granger Christian." Despite going against larger schools, Lavender is excited about the challenge, even if it does mean the team can't play in either the ICST or IHSAA posteason tournaments. "Our emphasis will have to be on our in-season tournaments, like the Bethany Invite (Dec. 17) and our Cougar Classic (Dec. 29, 30)," Lavender said. "Our focal point will be to win those."
