A wealth of experience and talent is returning for the Pella Christian girls basketball team this winter season.

Head Coach Kevin Van Maanen tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that while they lost two playmaking seniors, a talented core of seven players returning will see plenty of action this year.

“A lot of these girls have been playing since they were freshmen, and actually playing a lot of varsity minutes the last two years. We had two seniors last year, Brooke Mitrisin and Cailey Terpstra, and those two girls are going to be missed because they played a lot of varsity minutes for us. I think that we have some girls who are ready to step into those roles and fill those minutes with good experience coming back.”

The Eagles will feature senior Kaley Wilson, who led the 2016-17 team with 10.2 points per game and 48 three pointers, point guard Mary Kate Bandstra, who averaged 5 points per game over her first two years of varsity action, post Isabella Baugh, racking up eight rebounds per game in two full seasons as a starter, Morgan Fopma, who came into her own as the team’s third best scorer and second best rebounder in 2016-17, and Emma Huisman, an all-around athlete that figures to fill the role of Terpstra or Mitrisin. Senior Mara Juffer and Sophomore Lizzy Posthuma round out the Eagles core seven.

Pella Christian kicks off their season Saturday at home against Van Meter, a 2A state qualifier from a season ago.