When a team graduates six seniors, five of which started a game for Parkland at some point last season, one might expect a bit of a drop off. Guards Aubrey Beidelman, Erin Bross, Erica Bross, Alexis Koder and Samantha O’Keefe, as well as forward Brooke Robertson, won’t be suiting up when the Trojans’ season opens on Friday.

Despite those departures, head coach Wes Spence returns plenty of experience and talent at every position, leaving a bright outlook for the months to come.

Nadeline Ewald, a senior forward, leads this group of Trojans after being named an honorable mention selection to last year’s All-Eastern Pennsylvania Conference team. Regan Allsop, also a returning senior letter-winner, figures to be a part of Parkland’s plans in the post, as will senior guard/forward Cathleen Gaffney.

“We hope our depth and experience will be strengths for us [and] team chemistry,” Spence said. “This team played a lot of basketball together over the summer and the girls get along well on and off the court.”

During that successful summer stretch, Parkland won both the SportsFest and Stellar Construction basketball tournaments. Ewald earned Most Valuable Player honors on both weekends.

Senior guards Kristin Krause and Sarah Stagaard return to the Trojans’ backcourt as vital pieces to the puzzle. And juniors Rachel Medlar and Emily Piston have experience at the guard positions as well.

A number of Spence’s key players had long runs in their respective fall seasons across various sports, too. While a heavy stretch of games in December might cause panic for some teams, Spence is hoping the extra court time early helps in getting everyone up to speed.

“We have a number of key players who were part of very successful fall soccer and volleyball teams,” Spence said. “It will take some time to get back into basketball and get everyone back on the same page.

“We have been inconsistent scoring the ball over the past two years and that will be an emphasis throughout the season.

“We play a lot of games in December, so we’ll get a chance very early to see what areas we will need to focus on improving over the course of the season.”

Juniors Devyn Anderson and Faith Nation are two newcomers to the team that Spence expects to fit into Parkland’s balanced scoring approach offensively.

“I anticipate our style being similar to past teams-give great effort, play good defense and try to get as many people involved at the offensive end as possible,” Spence said. “With experienced guards and post players back, I expect we will be a balanced scoring team.

“We can play inside or outside in the half court, and we will look to get out in transition whenever possible.”

With a rich tradition at Parkland, postseason goals are always on the mind for Spence and his squad. Nothing changes this year after the Trojans qualified for leagues, districts and states a season ago.

“[We want to] get better over the course of the season,” Spence said. “The hope is that if we can continue to grow, improve, and come together as a team, then we will put ourselves in position to be competitive in the league and compete for EPC and district championships.”