Hume girls' basketball season opens Tuesday night

By Eric Wade

Daily Mail Sports Editor

HUME -- With the start of the 2013-14 basketball season looming, the defending Golden Valley Vernon County Conference champion Hume Lady Hornets will enter the season with a very similar look to what fans got used to seeing last year.

Heading into her eighth season at the helm of the Lady Hornets squad, head coach Delanya Thompson has a solid core on which to build her efforts to get the Lady Hornets another conference championship. The problem, however, is the simple fact that though Thompson has four returning letter winners, this year's squad will be short on overall numbers and will feature just one senior.

"We are always short on numbers," Thompson said. "We have only one senior, (and) are a very young and inexperienced team."

Among the returners on this year's Lady Hornets squad are senior point guard Kaitlee Metcalf, junior guard Hope Yarick, sophomore forward Megan Sutcliffe and junior forward Madison Cannon. Joining them will be sophomore guard Brooke Best, freshman forward Michala Lantzberger and freshman guard Brianna Austin.

Metcalf, Yarick, Sutcliffe and Cannon all played integral roles in leading the Lady Hornets to the championship in the conference tournament last year, but two of the biggest producers Thompson has had in recent years are no longer with the team, since they graduated with the Class of 2013.

One of those players, Emily Brooks, was one of the most prolific offensive players in the programs history. Despite being sidelined by two devastating knee injuries -- one of which kept her off the floor for nearly her entire senior season -- Brooks finished her career with 1,035 points.

Thompson said her squad's biggest strength would be the experience of her four returning players. As for weaknesses and how those issues might be resolved, the coach was far more tight-lipped, leaving fans to simply wait and see what might come of the season.

The loss of both Brooks and Tori Sears from last year's team is bound to be among the things that could be cause for concern heading into the season, as those two players not only accounted for a significant portion of the Lady Hornets' offense over the course of their careers, but Thompson also said both players were among the strongest leaders on last year's squad, on a number of occasions throughout last season.

Fans won't have to wait long to see just what the Lady Hornets will have to offer this season, as that wait will come to an end Tuesday, when Thompson's squad opens the 2013-14 season against Miami. The first of two games on the schedule for the night is set to tip off at 5:30 p.m., at Hume High School.