MONROE — Losing two all-state players in L

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MONROE — Losing two all-state players in Lindsey Vande Wall and Katlyn Wood will be tough for PCM girls basketball coach Ben Anderson.

But it’s not going to stop the Mustangs this season.

“We always have the attitude of why not us,” Anderson said. “We have good kids that will give a good, solid effort. There are going to be a lot of changes on the basketball court this season.”

And when you lose some great basketball players, it’s no wonder why. PCM lost five seniors from last season, a team that went 21-3 and won the Heart of Iowa Large School title.

Lindsey Vande Wall led the team in 2008 with 15.3 points per game and 116 assists. Katlyn Wood was second on the team with 13.8 points per game and led the team in rebounds.

From 2008, the Mustangs lost 849 points of the 1,420 points scored from a team that lost to eventual state qualifier Central Decatur.

But coming back for 2009, PCM returns some solid players that Anderson has to work around.

Senior Shelby Houseman — a returning second team all-conference selection — is the top returning scorer from last season. She averaged 8.6 points per game as a speedy guard. Post player Jordan Wood — a junior — averaged 6.6 points per game last season and was second on the team with 136 rebounds.

PCM also returns senior Taylor Van Roekel and juniors Stephanie Hayden, Megan Schippers and Katie Walker who saw varsity playing time last season.

The Mustangs have a total of 23 players out this season.

“We’re not going to have very many over six feet,” Anderson said. “The majority of our kids are going to be under 5-10. We should be quick. We’re just not going to have a lot of depth at the post position. We’ll hopefully be an up tempo team.”

As far as newcomers to the team, Anderson said that battle is wide open.

“We’re just getting into practice and getting things split up,” Anderson said. “I look past the six or seven that have experience, and we’ll be young, but not necessarily inexperienced.”

He said the team has been working well together early in practice, but this team will have a lot to prove.

“We’re going to need people to shoot the ball and until we can prove that, it’ll be our Achilles heel.”

Heading into the season that starts Monday against Pella Christian, Anderson knows his team will see some tough competition within the Heart of Iowa Conference. North Polk has moved to the Small School side this season, while Nevada has entered the Large School side.

“Nevada is going to be pretty tough,” Anderson said. “I know we played them over the summer, and they start some kids that are 5-10 or 6-foot. Roland-Story has Maddie Oliver. North Polk will be good on the other side. South Hamilton has Katie Gustafson. It’ll be interesting.”

Roland-Story was a state qualifier last season out of the Heart of Iowa.

Either way, PCM knows it’ll have to control the little things to have a successful season.

“I think in order to have a quality season we need to listen to new things we’re trying to do,” Anderson said. “If they value the basketball and try to limit mistakes, we can be successful.”

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