Perryville hopes to snare elusive conference crown

The good news for Perryville is the return of three starters, including a pair who have started since their freshman seasons.

The bad news is the loss of standout post player April Lorenz, currently at Qunicy University. Lorenz was a 6-footer who averaged more than 21 points and 11 rebounds a game last year.

The Pirates will be a more guard-oriented team this season, and they have some quality and experience at that position. Juniors Krista Miesner and Amber Hacker will be starting together in the backcourt for the third year. Miesner averaged more than seven points a game last year.

"Krista is a great leader," coach Vicki Lohmann said. "She was our captain as a sophomore and will be again this season. She is a great ballhandler and has worked hard on her outside shot in the off-season."

Hacker was second on the team in scoring last year, averaging slightly fewer than 10 points a game. She was a first-team all-conference selection.

"Amber is capable of hitting the 3-pointer, but she also had a lot of conventional three-point plays last year," Lohmann said. "She is very aggressive to the hole."

Miesner and Hacker are two of six juniors who have played together since they were in fourth grade at CTLS.

"They know each other well, and they know how to play the game," Lohmann said. "I feel great about this team. We don't have great size so we will try to out-run our opponents and get up a lot of shots."

The Pirates finished second in the Jefferson County Conference last year, losing only to Windsor.

"It has been quite a while since we have won the conference title," Lohmann said. "We have had a lot of seconds and thirds, but we didn't win a single one with April Lorenz. Maybe this will be year. I think this team has the opportunity to do very well this season."

Perryville opened Monday against North County.