WILKES-BARRE – Amanda Golden is back on the Tunkhannock bench, Lauren Charlton is back on the court at Dallas and the four players who led a resurgence at Lake-Lehman last season all return for a third season as starters to try to continue that climb.
Wyoming Valley Conference girls basketball does not begin play until Dec. 19 but WVC coaches held their annual Media Day Sunday at Norm’s Pizza in preparation for the start of non-league play Friday.
Golden returns to a job she previously held in place of Joe Reno, now an assistant coach at Marywood University.
Charlton, a junior who is already receiving NCAA Division I attention, is back at Dallas after recovering from shoulder surgery that ended her sophomore season early.
Lake-Lehman brings back its top four scorers from a team that jumped from six WVC wins in 2016-17 to 12 a year ago.
Golden has two returning starters – Rebecca Avery and Abby Ritz – back from last season’s team that went 5-12 in the WVC to finish last in Division 2. The Lady Tigers were 8-15 overall.
Dallas looked like a contender early last season before losing Charlton, a 6-footer who was the team’s leading point-producer with her ability to score inside and out. The Mountaineers wound up 7-9 in the WVC and 11-12 overall, finishing fifth out of six teams in Division 1.
“She’s as strong as ever,” Dallas coach Kelly Johnson said.
Seniors Gianna Centrella and Samantha Kern also return. Johnson said junior Morgan MacNeely will take over as point guard and the team has a “group of gifted sophomores.”
Lake-Lehman tied for third in Division 2 by going 12-5 in the WVC and 13-10 overall last season.
Seniors Savannah Purdy, Madison Borum, Corinna Scoblick and junior Sarah Salus are all back for their third seasons as starters after each averaging at least nine points per game.
“If defense improves, we can reach our goal of making the state tournament,” Lake-Lehman coach Charlie Lavan said.
Lavan pointed to four girls competing for the final starting spot as a sign that the team could also be positioned to improve its depth.
Lake-Lehman opens the season at 6 p.m. Friday with a game against Bethlehem Liberty in the Lady Cougars Tip-Off Tournament at Hazleton Area. Williamsport is also part of the tournament, which concludes Saturday.
Dallas also begins the season with a tournament. The Mountaineers play Honesdale at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Wyoming Valley West Tipoff Tournament that also includes West Scranton. The tournament finishes up Tuesday.
Tunkhannock opens at home Friday in a non-league game against Lackawanna Trail.
