With six returning players, the Wellsville-Middletown girls basketball team will look to improve on last year’s 4-17 record.

“We’re just going to go out and try to compete and do the best we can in every game and try to get better and better,” third-year W-M coach Todd Cripe said. “We’re striving towards districts. We want to be improving throughout the year. We don’t want to get stagnant. Hopefully, we want to be able to play our best ball by the end of the year.”

One of the returning players is sophomore Bethany Slovensky, who was the Tigers’ leading scorer with 218 points and earned second-team all-Eastern Missouri Conference honors. She’ll be part of a backcourt that will include sophomore Jenelle Boeckelman.

“They started all year last year for me,” Cripe said. “They both defend well. They handle the ball well. Bethany is a little better perimeter shooter, but Jenelle is a really good straight line driver. She’s strong with the basketball to the rim and puts a lot of pressure on the defense. She works really hard on the defensive end. She and Bethany will draw probably the two best players on the team when they’re asked to defend.”

Sophomore Meagan Cripe and juniors Natalie Boeckelman and Carly Henderson will make up the Tigers’ frontcourt.

“Meagan, Natalie and Carly will be vying for playing time in screening spots for us on our offense,” Todd Cripe said. “It’s going to come down to who can defend for me. They’re all pretty even offensively. Defensively, I need to be able to count on those girls.”

Dani Hager, the only senior on the team, is looking to bounce back from a knee injury she suffered during a recent practice. She’s playing in her fourth and final season.

“She’s the type of senior all coaches all want,” Cripe said. “She works hard and she’s positive with the girls.”

Hallie Guzy, Keigan Hall, Indica Scott and Alexis Wright make up the Tigers’ freshmen class.

“We’re trying to get those freshmen kind of caught up to speed in what we’re trying to do this year,” Cripe said. “It’s kind of a learning experience for them.”

The Tigers defeated Madison, Higbee, Brunswick and Louisiana for their only wins last season. The year before, W-M finished with nine victories.

The Tigers will start their season against top-seeded Mexico at 6 p.m. on Nov. 29 in a first-round game of the Montgomery County Invitational at Montgomery County Middle School.