Lehi Sports
Pioneer girls field new lineup with same expectations
The Lehi High School girls basketball team begins the campaignthis year with a whole new look as the Pioneers graduated their entire starting five from last season, but this squad plans to do the same thing as all previous teams under Coach Sean Seastrand’s leadership: compete.
“We’re not super experienced at the varsity level, but we’ll play hard,” the coach said. “With a younger group we’ll have to be patient but we’re talented enough to compete at this level. As underdogs there’s not a lot of pressure, so that should help us to play loose and have fun.”
Two girls return with considerable experience as varsity reserves: senior wing Ellie Hill and senior guard Mckenzie Jepson. “We’ll be leaning on them heavily to help us find an identity early,” Seastrand said.
Two potential starters have already been lost for the season with injuries: senior guard Phoenix Sweat tore her ACL and junior wing Madi Andrews requires surgery on her foot but may be able to return next year. The coach said both girls will remain on the team and be leaders from the sideline.
The rest of the varsity group is likely to come from among these players. Junior guard Brynlee Cook and sophomore guard Hayden Warren got a few varsity minutes last year. “Brynlee will have a big role this year and Hayden will be a reliable contributor,” the coach said.
Also in the mix are senior wing Lily Worthen and a pair of freshman newcomers, post Kelcee Rasmussen and guard Cali Ashton. “We’re working to find a starting group, so we’ll be experimenting with lineups a bit in our early games,” Seastrand said.
Lehi is scheduled to play in a tournament at Crimson Cliffs in St. George in mid-December but will otherwise face a wide range of teams both at home and on the road in the pre-region season.
“We’ll see some tough teams but I think our list of opponents is pretty balanced,” the coach said. “I feel good about it, and this schedule should allow us to mix it up a little bit.”
The Region 3 season begins in January. “Everyone kind of knows that in most sports, our region is very tough,” Seastrand said. “Even the lower teams are competitive and there are no easy games. I think we’re in a position to maybe surprise some people this year.”
As for Class 6A at the state level, he said it’s hard to tell at this point who will be on top this season but he pointed out some typical suspects. “Copper Hills returns their entire varsity lineup except one,” Seastrand said. “Davis is usually really good and I think Bingham and Mountain Ridge are ones to watch.
“Overall though, I think 6A is fairly open with six or seven teams which are pretty good,” the coach concluded.
The Pioneers opened at Riverton Nov. 20 and lost to the Silverwolves in a close one 48-41. For the first home game, they hosted Mountain View on Nov. 22 and earned a nice 67-53 victory. Herriman was scheduled to come to town on Tuesday (Nov. 26). Look for details on these games in a future issue.
Next week Lehi welcomes Mountain Ridge on Tuesday (Dec. 3), travels to Bingham on Thursday (Dec. 5) and entertains Cedar City on Friday (Dec. 6). Tipoff time is 7 p.m. for all of these contests.
