Winter Sports Preview: Plenty of familiar faces to grace the Pekin lineup

Head coach Davis Eidahl has his seniors.

If they come together like Eidahl hopes, the wins may follow.

?This is the first year I?ve had five seniors starting, and it?s not so much the experience, but moreso, just the maturity,? Eidahl said. ?These girls have played for two years now and, with the talent, it will come down to working together.?

Pekin loses leading scorer Mary Maeder from a season ago, but the laundry list of Panthers returning for their senior season includes Jessica Deutsch, Shelby Blakely, Annie Jones, Jaime Sterling and Erin Mosinski. That core of players has seen winning seasons the past three years ? all of which ended up as third-place conference finishes ? but look for more in 2010.

Joining the upperclassmen will be juniors Jessi Martin and Kaitlin Spilman ? both coming off strong cross country seasons ? to compete for starting spots.

?Our juniors are just strong competitors,? said Eidahl. ?Because of that, you have to find time for them to get on the court.?

Because of the speed and athleticism, Eidahl is hoping to play an up tempo game, mostly because of the backcourt of Deutsch (6.2 ppg) and Blakely (5.4 ppg). The quick duo will share ball-handling duties and be responsible for getting the Panthers down the court quickly while Sterling (5.9 ppg), Jones (4.3 ppg) and Mosinski (3.7 ppg) fill in the frontcourt.

?We?re trying to incorporate a team-first attitude, and if we do, we should at least be competitive in every single ball game,? said Eidahl.

Eidahl will begin his sixth season on the Pekin bench and the rest of the Panthers will begin their quest for a conference title starting Tuesday at home against Winfield-Mount Union.