ELIZABETHTOWN BEARS
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COACH: Janelle Garber (2nd season; 13-11 overall).
ASSISTANT COACHES: Kevin Erb, Jen Finch, Kristy Szoboscan.
LAST SEASON: 9-7 Section 2, 13-11 overall (Lost to eventual champ Lancaster Catholic 56-47 in an L-L League quarterfinal game; lost to Shippensburg 50-48 in a District 3 AAAA preliminary game).
KEY PLAYERS LOST TO GRADUATION: Sarah Fairbanks (19.0 points per game, tops in the L-L League, 7 3-pointers), Kaitlyn Lyons (4.6), Alex Rago (1.1).
KEY PLAYERS RETURNING: G Saraya Brown (Sr., 3.0), F Jenny Fairbanks (Jr., 8.4, 19 3-pointers), G Taylor Reinhold (Sr., 3.5), G Erin Sollenberger (Sr., 4.2, 13 3-pointers).
PROBABLE STARTERS
G - Erin Sollenberger
G - Taylor Reinhold
G - Saraya Brown
F - Jenny Fairbanks
F - Cassidy Lyons
STRENGTHS: Backcourt/frontcourt balance and, according to Coach Garber, team chemistry.
WEAKNESSES: Post play, particularly with the loss of stalwart Sarah Fairbanks, who is playing hoops for St. Joe’s.
QUOTABLE: Janelle Garber - “I’m anxious to get to know the players and seeing them grow as teammates and friends. I think there will be a couple of great races throughout the league; I’m looking forward to seeing who steps up.”
NOTABLE: Bears beat the pack for second place behind rampaging Solanco, which clinched Section 2 gold with four games to go in the regular season. … Overall, a fine first season in the saddle for Coach Garber, a former Elizabethtown player and 1,000-point scorer for the Bears. She also scored 1,000 points during her playing days at West Chester. And now she has a year under her belt coaching her alma mater, so everyone should be on the same page. … Loss of Sarah Fairbanks will sting. She departed Elizabethtown with 1,304 points. She was terrific from the perimeter, in the post in the half-court, in transition, on the boards and she blocked shots - and pretty much everything in between. She had a great run and parlayed her success into a D1 scholarship. … Good news: There is a nice nucleus back, including Fairbanks’ sister, Jenny, a wing player who can shoot from downtown. And she has an experienced point guard who can distribute and also pull the trigger in Erin Sollenberger. … Taylor Reinhold and Saraya Brown have also been through plenty of Section 2 wars and should compliment Sollenberger quite nicely. … A lot of eyes on Cassidy Lyons, who slides into the frontcourt. She scored a grand total of 4 points in six games last season. This season, she doesn’t have to be Fairbanks. But if she can chip in on the boards and make her presence felt in the paint, that would be a big thing for the Bears. … Coach Garber is counting on Jenna Doll and Mandy Martin to supply key minutes off the bench.
REINHART SAYS: Despite wholesale losses - including a pair of 1,000-point scorers and its head coach - Solanco will still likely get the nod in the Section 2 race. But there is certainly enough in the cupboard in Elizabethtown for the Bears to be players once again in this hunt. Don’t be surprised if Elizabethtown is in the lead pack with Solanco and perhaps Ephrata come late January.
JEFF REINHART: jreinhart@pnco.com
ON TWITTER: @JeffReinhartPN