Perhaps no other girls basketball team in the area faces a tougher task than Emmaus this season.

First, the Hornets have a new coach for the third straight season after Jeff Williams had to step down because of personal reasons. Williams coached one season, taking over for Billy Dunn, who stepped down following the 2013-2014 season.

Carl Scheitrum, who was on both Dunn’s and Williams’ staffs, moves up to be the head coach of the team this season and is looking to stick around for a while.

“It’s not dramatically different, but we’re still changing the approach a little bit and it’s a different voice every year and it’s hard,” said Scheitrum of the change in coaches. “I really feel for the seniors, who have to relearn things each year. That’s another reason why I got involved, because I’m trying to put stability back into the program.”

To make things worse, the Lady Hornets will be without junior Kiyae White for most, if not all, of the season after White tore an ACL last May. She is currently rehabbing, but hasn’t started working on side-to-side cuts, meaning that she still has a lot of hard work ahead of her.

“I don’t know that we’re going to see her on the court this year,” said Scheitrum. “When she’s ready, she definitely knows that she has a place. There was some early optimism that she might be back by late December, but I don’t want to rush her. She’s only a junior and I want her to be as healthy as she can be when she comes back.”

White led the team in scoring last year.

Scheitrum has three seniors – Vanessa Huber, Jenna Lessel and Destanee Watkins – to help lead this season and they’ve stepped up to play that role in the early going. Their leadership is important because there are five sophomores on the roster.

“It does make things tougher down low,” said the 6-foot-tall Lessel about not having White on the court. “But I have Bri [Brianna Hart] and Karli [Leffler] with me and we feed off of each other very well and through our practices we’ve been learning how to work well with each other on the court.”

Scheitrum’s longtime involvement with the program has helped make the transition easier for some of the older players who have worked with him throughout their time at Emmaus. Huber, for one, was glad that there was a familiar face taking over the program.

“I’ve had coach Scheitrum since I was in eighth grade, so it’s not too different,” Huber said. “It’s nice to have someone who already knows how I play and I didn’t have to show a new coach what I have to offer.”

Watkins has developed nicely as a player during her time with the team and is one of the better defensive players in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. Scheitrum believes that her tough play will rub off on others and that the team’s defense could improve as the season goes on. While she’s primarily known for her defense, Watkins is the type of player who chips in with key points here and there and can surprise teams that don’t take her offense too seriously.

“I’m learning to work better on offense, but I’m still a defensive player first and I get to pick up the best player on the other team,” she said. “If I can come up with a big stop, that’s going to help us succeed. The sophomores are really stepping up and are contributing a lot this year, so it’s our job [as seniors] to keep the team up and playing hard no matter what and I want to be the motivational person who helps drive us.”

The regular season opens with two home games, the first of which is Saturday afternoon at Wilson-West Lawn. On Tuesday, the Lady Hornets play their first conference game of the season when they host East Stroudsburg North.