Young Stars trying to build

It’s going to be a challenge.
That would be the case for any team coming off of a one-win season. It’s especially true for the Starfires, who haven’t had a winning campaign in more than a decade.
“There are so many things,” said first-year coach Ryan Cunningham of what it will take to turn the South Adams High School girls basketball program around. “The biggest thing is the kids have got to start having confidence in themselves during the game. … It starts from building personal confidence in their basketball abilities. That may not translate into wins right away … but it’s something we’ve got to do.”
The Starfires open their season on the road Thursday against Daleville, the only team they defeated a year ago. They followed that victory with 19 straight losses, and they are 1-29 in their last 30 games overall.
SAHS has lost 15 or more games in eight of its last 10 seasons. Its last sectional title came in 1995.
As the Starfires try to begin to rebuild under Cunningham, their fourth coach in five years, they will do so with an extremely young roster. The team has just two upperclassman alongside three sophomores and five freshmen.
The team’s only senior is 5-foot point guard Lyndsey Chandler. She had a team-high six points in South Adams’ 23-11 victory last season over Daleville.
“Lyndsey Chandler is hands down one of the best leaders I’ve ever coached,” said Cunningham, who spent four seasons as the girls coach at Whitko and has also been an assistant at Wabash (girls) and Huntington North (boys). “She’s just a really good kid.
“(Her leadership) is not only from a vocal standpoint, but it’s the way she practices.”
Chandler, who Cunningham describes as “extremely quick”, will run the point for the Starfires with the only other upperclassman, junior Kristen Muselman, at the two-guard spot.
The rest of the starting lineup includes sophomores Alli Amstutz and Dzejna Ahmetovic, and freshman Sharon Balsiger.
Amstutz was the team’s leading scorer in its sectional semifinal loss to Woodlan last year with nine points on 3-of-4 from long distance. She also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the season-opening win over Daleville.
Ahmetovic had four points in the sectional defeat.
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“Alli Amstutz … has come on extremely well,” said Cunningham. “Defensively she just can get after anybody.
“The biggest key to our whole season is keeping Dzejna healthy,” he added of the 6-foot center. “We’ve got to get her the basketball. That’s really going to be key.”
The rest of the varsity roster includes sophomore Marissa Bisel and freshmen Alaina Johnston, Samantha Baker, Lauren Smith and Madison Graber.
Cunningham said he believes that guards Chandler, Muselman and Amstutz will be able to put pressure on opposing ball-handlers. And he also plans to force the issue on the offensive end, pushing the ball up the floor.
He and the Starfires hope they can put the last couple of seasons behind them and begin to get the program heading in the right direction.
“It’s really cliché, but everything we talk about is we’re going to do it one game at a time,” said Cunningham. “It wouldn’t be wise of me to say we’re going to win five, six, seven games. …
“My goal is to get them to the point where they have confidence and in the fourth quarter we have a chance to win a ball game every night.
“As a whole one thing I’ve been impressed with is the kids’ work ethic and their want to learn. …
“I think that’s a credit not only to their parents but to the community.”[[In-content Ad]]