The Van-Far girls had a summer to remember.

It was a lot of basketball, but the Lady Indians were victorious most of the way with a 23-4 record. Head coach Heather Minter said it was one of the best summers she’s had as a girls coach. 

Minter said South Shelby was the only team “handily beat us,” but this group has grown up under her leadership. Van-Far will have five seniors this season.

“These kids have been playing since, I think, first grade,” Minter said. “It’s showing how much they’ve grown. If we stay together and stay healthy, it can be a very great year for us.”

Minter said Van-Far hasn’t had its full roster all summer while the Lady Indians have played a large variety of competition in more games than open gyms. She said senior Khloe Wallace returned last week, which concluded with the Paris Shootout on June 26, and Van-Far is still awaiting Carly Hunn. 

In the Paris Shootout on Friday, Van-Far defeated Westran, Paris and Hallsville and lost to Silex. Minter said her seniors looked good, including Mylee Keller stepping into her role better, Chloe Zumwalt being good inside and Kenya Jones seeing the court better. Aviana Early has been “the female version of Dennis Rodman,” meaning she has shown much hustle and is all over the court.

“We’ve got a lot of good pieces,” Minter said. “The fact we’ve got these five seniors, we’re hoping, with great leadership, that we’re going to go in the right direction this year.”

Minter said summer is mostly important because that is the time her players build confidence. There is some confidence and familiarity in the plays they have run because she said it is mostly the same stuff they have run in prior years, but more confidence is good.

“We’re intimidated a little bit by who we’re playing because we know a little more about teams,” Minter said. “We went down to Eugene and were playing 4A schools and then we come here and play teams we know, and we’re a little timid. That’s going to be our big thing trying to figure out how to fix it.”