Whitehall’s girls basketball head coach James Middleton has returned to lead the Zephyrs for his third season along with senior starters Lyneida Otanez and Jaylene Wilson.

“Jaylene Wilson is our only team captain,” Middleton said. “She has made tremendous strides as a leader and has worked so hard on and off the court. Both have been playing varsity minutes since their sophomore year.”

The Zephyrs expect to challenge other teams with their relentless defense.

“We are small but quick and will run and play fast in transition,” said Middleton. “Some challenges we may face are that a lot of our key players are young and inexperienced outside of Jaylene and Lyneida. They need reps.”

Whitehall’s early season record stands at 1-3 as of Dec. 4.

“I would like to execute a lot better on the offensive side of the ball in the half court.,” Middleton said. “When we struggle in the half court, it doesn’t allow us to set up in our press defense and play to our strengths.”

Middleton’s head assistant is Zach Hankerson, an Easton grad who scored 1,000 points and played for Kutztown University.

Whitehall’s JV head coach is Justin Fuetnes in his third year with the Zephyrs.

Varsity assistants are Jahnel Reid, an Easton grad who played for Penn State Lehigh Valley where she won two championships, Aaliyah Johnson, who also graduated from Penn State Lehigh Valley and played for the women’s basketball team, and Steph Snyder, who has been involved with the youth programs in Whitehall for five years.