St. Charles East enters 2010 with 5 new starters

They’ll still be wearing the orange, black and white, you’ll still hear “When the Saints Go Marching In” when the band plays, but there might not be much else about this year’s St. Charles East girls basketball team fans will recognize.

Coach Lori Drumtra graduated all five of her starters and several of her top reserves from last year’s 15-13 team. That includes Lexi Baltes, a three-time All-Area guard who became just the second player in program history to go over 1,000 career points.

A year ago Drumtra had a steady starting five with Baltes, Jaime Rust, Steph Roan, Kara Schnier and Kala Sigona. This year she knows only one player she’s sure will start: senior forward Dani Asquini even if Drumtra isn’t sure where Asquini will start.

“She is so versatile that she can play a multitude of positions and probably will,” Drumtra said.

Guard/forward Chanel Stephens also returns, and the rest of the Saints’ roster is made up of newcomers. Even without the experience from past years, Drumtra said this team can continue playing top-notch defense.

“Once again I believe (we) are going to be a strong defensive team,” Drumtra said. “Our strength is our speed and quickness and we will have to use that to our advantage.”

The Saints’ newcomers include a freshman guard Amanda Hilton and three sophomores: guards Paige Jordan, Laney Deckrow and Carly Pottle.

Junior forward Shannon Pederson transferred from St. Charles North, senior guard Lauren Rohrmeier did not play her junior year and guard Annie Martines and forward Morgan Vyzral also are new to the varsity.

“What we will need to improve on is learning to play together as a team,” Drumtra said. “We have some talented but pretty young players on our roster and some older players with very little varsity experience.

“The learning curve will be huge at the beginning of the season but I am confident we will continue to improve and be competitive in our division of the Upstate Eight Conference.”

Quick facts

Coach: Lori Drumtra

Last year: 15-13, lost 47-38 to St. Charles North in Class 4A SCN regional semifinals

Players to watch: Dani Asquini, jr., G; ., G; Amanda Hilton, fr., G