Scouting Round Lake girls basketball

COACH: Howard Conkling (first season)

LAST SEASON: 6-21, 0-12 in the NSC Prairie

LOSSES: G MacKenzie Phillips, G Lauren Siems

RETURNEES: Sr. G Chanae Brown, Sr. G Krystal Pitts, Sr. G Samantha Danguilan, Jr. G Adriana Pitts, Sr. C Sydnee Miller

NEWCOMERS: Jr. F Khadijah Scott, Jr. G Jackie Salgado

OUTLOOK: Their Edge is gone, but the Panthers have an edge. New head coach Howard Conkling knows how to coach. He served as Round Lake's head baseball coach for 15 years before retiring a couple of years ago. When longtime girls basketball coach Gary Edge retired, the Panthers sought out Conkling, who had been coaching Round Lake's freshman girls the last couple of winters. Conkling will run the varsity with fellow longtime Round Lake coach Doug Barnshaw serving as his assistant. They'll put a team on the floor that boasts three returning starters in senior guards Chanae Brown, Krystal Pitts and Samantha Danguilan, all of whom have been on varsity since they were sophomores. "We're kind of hoping they show the way a little bit," Conkling said. Brown is a great athlete, having earned all-conference honors last season and then making all-area in volleyball in the fall. Adriana Pitts (Krystal's kid sister) and Sydnee Miller are two other veterans. Like last season, the Panthers don't have a player taller than 5 feet 9. "We're very quick and we're hoping that quickness helps us out," Conkling said. "We're going to need to use our quickness to be scrappy, because most teams are going to be taller than us."