WEST ALEXANDRIA — The Twin Valley South girls’ basketball team has its third coach in as many years as Brody Rike, a 1998 Twin Valley graduate, takes the helm for his first varsity head coaching job.

Rike, who was the junior varsity boys coach at Preble Shawnee last year, inherits a team that was 3-20 last year and 1-11 in the Cross County Conference.

“This is a great group of young ladies on and off the floor. We will be small in size and fairly young, but we expect to show significant progress from last year’s season. Look for us to be stronger on the defense end of the court, progressing on the offensive end as the season continues,” Rike said.

Rike will be relying on junior Mylan Crews, who returns as the starting point guard and will be a key leader for the Panthers.

Senior Emily Hutchings returns for her fourth year on varsity and will start at forward for the Panthers providing scoring and rebounding.

Junior Kelsie Shafer also returns as a forward for the Panthers, expecting to be key in rebounding and scoring.

Senior Sydney Vorhis, Junior Abby Bingham, and Sophomore Madison Johnson all return to the Panthers with some varsity experience, while junior Shelby Denlinger, and sophomores Abby Robertson, Evelyn Woodgeard and Maegan Carson will complete the roster as key newcomers.

South began the season last weekend at Carlisle where they beat Northridge and lost to the host Indians.