Will eight be enough?

Fort Scott Community College head women's basketball coach Katie Reihmann has something rare for any junior-college program, not just FSCC. She has eight returning players, including four starters and others who played key minutes off the bench.

The quality time for the returning players was available because there was only one sophomore on last year's team, which went 9-22 after starting the season with wins in three of their first four games.

"Having eight returners back has made it a much easier start to the year," Reihmann said Monday afternoon. "Knowing the system and how things are supposed to work has made it an easy transition (from last season)."

The fact that the eight players work well together also makes things easier. And a few of them have shown significant improvement as the result of work in the off-season.

"This team definitely gets along well," Reihmann said. "They know each other extremely well. Even the freshmen have jumped right in and have done a great job right away. This team catches on to new things quickly and that's a positive.

"The experience is huge. As the scrimmages have gone on, it's gotten much better. In the beginning, it was a little rocky just getting back into things. But now, you can tell they're getting back into a rhythm that we were into at the end of last year."

Reihmann says that each of the eight sophomores leads in their own way. For instance, returning point guard Sierra Shoulders (5' 4", Olive, Oklahoma), who was third among Region VI-Division II players with 4.45 assists per game last season, has become almost a second coach on the court.

"I call the offenses but if I'm busy making sure things are being run right, she can make the call and almost always know what I would call," Reihmann said. "She does a great job of reading me. She's the on-floor general, all the time."

Forward Baylea White (5' 10", Mound City), on the other hand, leads by demonstrating a strong work ethic.

"She just works hard every single day," Reihmann said. "She may not be very vocal but she'll work hard and be an example by just doing that."

Some of that may have rubbed off on post Carlie Wilhelmi (6' 2", Soph., Center Point, Iowa), who was an inconsistent player last season.

"This year, when people see her play, they're going to be stunned by her turnaround," Reihmann says. "She is doing a great job right now. Her post-season and pre-season have turned her around and she's been outstanding."

Just that change in work ethic has boosted Reihmann's expectations for the play of her posts this season. With Wilhelmi performing better, Jessica McAdams (6' 1", Soph., Miller, Missouri) showing improvement and freshman Emily Thorp (6' 1", Montrose, Colo.) showing a little versatility by also being able to play the 4 (power forward), "has completely changed our post play. It's been unstoppable in the pre-season.

"Sometimes I forget how fortunate I am to have a pair of sophomore 6' 1", 6' 2" posts down there and be able to interchange them. They can each work hard for several minutes, then I can give them a break."

Shoulders will be backed at the point by a pair of freshmen, Kamiron Luptak (5' 5", Adrian, Missouri) and Emalee Copeland (5' 4", Colcord, Oklahoma). But she wasn't guaranteed the starting position coming into the year.

"It's nice to have two backups this year," Reihmann said. "All three are competing and Sierra came in knowing there was going to be competition. The job wasn't guaranteed to be her's and every day she has to work just as hard to keep it."

Andrea Valadez (5' 8", Soph., El Dorado) returns at the 2 (off-guard/wing) position backed by Luptak and Bret McGuire (5' 8", Erie). Valadez has also improved in the off season and each of the three can be productive.

"Andrea has improved so much in the off-season," Reihmann said. "She's been in the gym working out every night, on footwork, on the ladder, shooting a ton. Her confidence is so much better on getting to the basket, on her shooting, just becoming an all-around scorer."

Amanda Cicero (5' 8", Soph., Frontenac) and Hayley Dellinger (5' 9", Soph., Gardner) are looking to step in as the starting small forward to take over for Malori Gales, who led Kansas D-II schools in scoring last season. Also coming in is Kayleigh Haggard (5' 11", Fr., Colcord, Oklahoma), who was shifted over from power forward.

"There's some athleticism out there," Reihmann says. "Some length with Amanda and Kayleigh and then Hayley's ability to get to the basket will help us as well. All three of them can defend, especially Amanda and Hayley. Defensively, this is a great group."

White, the only returning captain from last year, is back at power forward, starting most games last season, along with Makayla Cole (5' 10", Burlington). Thorp will likely also see playing time in that spot.

"Baylea's always been a leader on the floor," Reihmann said. "She did a great job last season and this pre-season, she's been getting everything organized. She plays hard every single minute of the game.

"Makalya's got a great mid-range shot. When a guard drives, she moves to a spot where she gets a great shot."

One of the lessons learned from last season as the losses piled up was that the Greyhounds were able to show they could compete with teams in the second half of games after they allowed themselves to dig a deep hole in the first. Stronger starts to games will inevitably lead to better results.

"We gave teams a lead in the first half and could stay with them in the second," Reihmann remembered. "This year, we have to know that if we don't give them that kind of lead in the first half, we can stay with those teams and beat those teams. It will definitely help having the sophomores here with that leadership and it will carry us much further this year."

The Jayhawk Conference put its Division II schools into a separate division last season and that format seemed to work out well. But some schools didn't like the holes in the schedules removing four conference opponents created so this year, the old division format was restored. There will be just two divisions, Eastern and Western, and the Division I schools and Division II schools will be mixed in with each other.

But while the divisional structure was restored, the old scheduling formula wasn't. The Division I schools will play the Division II schools only once. For instance, Fort Scott will play Coffeyville on the road but not at home. Likewise, the 'Hounds will face Allen at home but not in Iola.

The Division II schools will play each other twice. But only the second game between them counts.

Labette has moved over to Division II, so there are now seven schools in the region at that level: Fort Scott, Johnson County, Kansas City, Highland, Labette and non-conference schools Brown Mackie and Hesston. But only six of the seven will qualify for the Region VI-Division II post-season tournament.

Fixing something which wasn't broken will probably make things difficult for fans to keep track of at first. The coaches aren't especially thrilled about this. But Reihmann has decided not to bother sorting things out. For a team looking to build and escape the division cellar -- no matter what division that is -- every game is important.

"We'll play it like every game matters for us -- truly," she said. "Every game for these sophomores matters. They're in it for winning every game. So that's how we're going to play it, taking every game one-by-one and not getting so far ahead of ourselves."