Calvary girls to host New Bloomfield

The Calvary Lutheran girls basketball team lost a guard, a forward and a post player to graduation last year.

In a great stroke of luck - call the team Even Steven if you want - the Lady Lions' three incoming freshmen consist of a guard, a forward and a post player.

In another bit of similarity, the Lady Lions once again will have a nine-player roster. But they won't have the upperclass leadership they had last year, as this squad boasts one junior and five sophomores to go with those freshmen.

"I like what I've seen," Calvary coach Jonathan Kueck said. "The girls that played last year have picked it up. It's big change, big improvements for those six girls. They're stepping right into leadership roles and getting the team ready."

Leadership isn't something a coach can tell players to develop in the offseason, like working on their shooting or ballhandling.

"You can't coach that," Kueck said, adding the players are eager for the season to start.

"The girls are excited," he said. "They've been doing a lot of preparation, getting in as much time as we can."

The Lady Lions got a taste of what's to come when they hosted a Jamboree on Saturday with Tuscumbia and Russellville.

"I liked it," Kueck said. "It was better than what we've done before, scrimmaging against each other. It was a good thing to have. ... We did a lot of subbing, using different personnel to see how things would go."

Kueck said there will be a couple of keys for the Lady Lions to have success this season.

"Transition play is important for us, going from offense to defense," he said. "And then rebounding, not letting that get out of control and letting the other team's offense get a lot of chances."

The Lady Lions did a good job in the Jamboree in another key area.

"I was impressed with how they handled the ball," he said. "They didn't get too agitated when they were under pressure. ... Ball control is going to be important, being able to bring the ball down the court and not turn it over."

The Lady Lions will have a big adjustment come postseason time, as they are moving up to Class 2 for the first time in school history. To that end, they've stepped up the regular-season schedule a bit.

"We're playing a couple of new teams," Kueck said. "I don't know how others see us, and we've got a few tests at the beginning of the season, but I don't see us struggling.

"My expectations are we're not going to be the bottom of the barrel come districts, we're looking for a little bit better than that."

Calvary opens at 6:30 p.m. today at home against New Bloomfield.