But who’s the team to beat? Minnier said to watch for Liberty and South Carroll, both of which return a lot of talented players. And he likes the Owls to improve on last year’s mark.

Century

The Knights are the reigning county champions (18-6, 11-1) but they lost Stef McLallen, Nicole Ruane and Katie Schwarzmann, three of the the program’s top players, to graduation. Century does return senior guard Megan Spencer, who averaged 12.4 points, and a solid defender in senior forward Lindsay Roche.

Eighth-year coach Joel Beard also has sophomore talent in forward Angela Flister and guard Alice Mercer, with seniors Kaitlin Pentz and Amber Lockhart vying for a starting spot. Beard said the Knights will use the regular season to improve and gain momentum into the regional playoffs.

Francis Scott Key

The Eagles (1-20, 0-12) can only improve on last season and first-year coach Jen Gosselin said she’s taking a baby-steps approach. That being said, Gosselin is excited about her 12-player roster.

The offense runs through senior guard Jen Nevius, who averaged 14.9 points per game last season. Gosselin said she’s trying to add scoring options, but for now she’s set on defense with senior guard Jen Pivar, 6-foot-1 sophomore forward Paula Nicholson and 5-9 junior Megan Liebknecht.

“I want our opponents to fear us and not take us for granted,” said Gosselin, a former FSK standout. “I want to get that excitement back.”

Liberty

The Lions (13-10, 8-4) return talent in junior swing player Maggie McCormick (10.5 points) and senior center Shelby Nemecek (10.5 points, 10.5 rebounds). First-year coach Jessica Morgan takes over for Joe Reiter after coaching the JV squad for three seasons. Morgan said she’ll keep things relatively the same, “enough so that it doesn’t shake the boat too much.”

Morgan pointed to juniors Georgia Karr and Lexi Cross as two others who help create a core of experienced varsity players, and she expects the Lions to play an up-tempo game.

Liberty is carrying three sophomores in forward Kelly McCormick, guard Carleigh Davis and center Hailey Marlatt. McCormick and Marlatt have varsity experience from last winter.

Manchester Valley

The Mavericks and first-year coach Heather DeWees field a young squad, but several players are coming off fall sports so they have some experience.

Junior guard Casey Ostendorf is healthy after a knee injury and is one of the Mavs’ captains. The other leader is sophomore Kristen Cannon, who started at North Carroll as a freshman last season. DeWees said she’s looking for MV junior Niki Windisch to provide solid frontcourt play.

The Mavericks have no seniors, but DeWees said they’re going into the season with “a two-year plan” and have eventual state tournament aspirations — a few of her players are coming from MV’s regional champion field hockey team.

North Carroll

The Panthers (16-10, 8-4) made it all the way to the 4A North final and return the Times’ Player of the Year in senior Caitlin Bach. The 6-foot all-countian led the county with 19.9 points and 12.7 rebounds per game and is closing in on Carroll’s all-time scoring record. Bach sits at 1,207 career points; former SC star Melanee Wagener finished with more than 1,500.

NC eighth-year coach John Brown also has senior forward Stacey Klingler, who is back after averaging 9.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. The Panthers field six seniors, including guards Sarah Futrell and Grace Kennedy, and forwards Chelsea Bailey (5-10) and Juliana Torres (5-11).

South Carroll

Experience is what should guide the Cavaliers (14-10, 6-6) this winter, said fifth-year coach Liz Padgett. SC returns seven starters from last year’s team, including Times first-team all-county player Cyndi Scurci. The senior guard averaged 10.3 points and led the county in free-throw percentage (81.4) last season.

Padgett has size in sophomore forwards Nikki Heim (5-9) and Katie Mathias (5-10), and the Cavs also feature senior forward Melissa Heim, who averaged 9.3 points and 6.6 rebounds as a junior. Senior forward Kayla Louder had a solid finish to last season and is another key returner for SC, as is junior forward Erin Slifer.

Westminster

Junior swing player Alyssa Semones is back after a Times first-team all-county sophomore season for the Owls (10-14, 3-9). Semones averaged 11.9 points and 6.8 rebounds for Westminster and coach Shawn Minnier, who is in his second year.

“We’re looking for her to play that kind of role for us again,” Minnier said.

The Owls lost some firepower in graduated guards Ali Thompson (8.9 points) and Ashleigh Rohrback (35.7 percent on 3-pointers). But Minnier’s guard-oriented squad has 10 players who can operate from the backcourt. Junior Jane Sussman and senior Beth Mahr, both 5-9, should be the Owls’ top forwards.

Winters Mill

Gone from the Falcons (10-14, 6-6) are all-countians Cassie Cooke, who averaged 16.8 points, and Kirsten Byrne, who scored 10.5 points and grabbed 6.7 rebounds. Also departed is coach Bernie Koontz, who left to lead the boys team at Manchester Valley. So Greg Knill takes over a WM team searching for replacements.

Senior returner Rachael Bollinger (5-11) is one of WM’s frontcourt players and junior Haley Wilds, a newcomer who moved from Tennessee, could be the Falcons’ point guard.

“[Tuesday] was the first time we’ve had all 13 in the gym at the same time,” said Knill, who has members of the girls soccer team that reached the 2A state final. “We aren’t a team yet. We’re still trying to figure everything out.”

Reach staff writer Patrick Stoetzer at 410-857-7894 or pat.stoetzer@carrollcountytimes.com.