The Community R-6 girls think their balance will keep them in many games this season.

The Lady Trojans, who are coming off their eighth district championship season in 10 years, have guards on the perimeter that will shoulder more minutes but also some girls who can shoulder through opponents with some physicality.

Sophomore Peyton Beamer will be handling the ball a lot more after the graduation of point guard Sarah Angel and others like Adriana Woodson and seniors Alyssa Beamer and Brooklynn Glasgow will help. Head coach Bob Curtis said he hopes post players like senior Kylie Brooks, junior Aaliyah Welch and sophomore Jocelyn Curtis give Community the edge on the glass.

“We have a fairly balanced attack,” Curtis said. “Around the rim, we have kids that can really be physical and go get it and get us extra, high-percentage shots around the rim. This team has some size. We’ve been a little smaller and a little quicker, but this is definitely a physical and strong group.”

Brooks displayed double-double potential last season and was one of four to be an all-conference player along with graduates Angel, Olivia Kuda and Kayla Jett. Curtis said Brooks averaged around seven rebounds per game and expects at least that and a nice scoring season from her.

“Kylie Brooks is going to have a big year offensively,” Curtis said. “She jumps really well. She really gets off the floor and gets us extra shots.”

Curtis said opponents will have more than a handful of girls to worry about as most of the 13 girls on Community’s roster are expected to play. He said each Lady Trojan has prior basketball experience and is capable of contributing.

Eight are underclassmen so Curtis said some “growing pains” will emerge, but that also brings much potential. The rotation will be in the 8-10 range instead of the 6-7 from a year ago since Community had a senior group that led the team to a 22-6 record, or the Lady Trojans’ sixth straight 20-win season.

“Over the next three years, if (Peyton Beamer) stays healthy, she’ll play a lot of minutes, she’ll handle the ball a lot and be asked to play a big role scoring the ball,” Curtis said. “Adriana Woodson will help bring the ball up, but Peyton Beamer will be our starting point guard. Chloe Johnson looked really good this summer guarding people. Kat Meyer’s going to shoot it really well off the bench.”

This year’s crop of seniors has provided much leadership already to the team’s younger roster, Curtis said, and bring much more than that. Along with the aforementioned Brooks, Glasgow and Alyssa Beamer are valuable perimeter pieces.

“Brooklyn Glasgow is a great free-throw shooter – not a kid you want to put on the line – and a great defender,” Curtis said. “Alyssa Beamer had a big district championship (against Wellsville-Middletown). In the third quarter, when we pulled away from them, she had 10 points in that quarter and two 3s in that quarter so she can explode.”

Community came up short for the Central Activities Conference title a season ago and missed out on a share of it after a tight 52-47 loss to champion Cairo. Curtis wants to be in the conversation for conference and district, pushing its opponents after a summer the Lady Trojans finished 18-7. The team’s performance in close games will make a difference and made a difference last year with the Lady Trojans’ eight wins by a margin of eight points or less.

“We want to be consistent,” Curtis said. “Once we get a couple quality wins, we want to be consistent every night and give ourselves a chance to win. We’ve got to make better decisions in the last four minutes. Close games are won in the last four minutes so we got to get better at that.”