2020-21 Winter Preview: Seneca Girls Basketball

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By Chris Parker

Seneca girls basketball finished 14-12 overall last season. They will look to do even better this year with two all-conference players returning.

Aliya Grotjohn earned first-team all-conference honors in the Big 8 West last year as a sophomore. She was one of only two underclassmen to earn all-conference honors in the Big 8 West.

“Aliya works extremely hard. We knew coming into her sophomore year she was going to be a solid player for us. She had just came off a great freshman year. She continues to work on her craft, so I expect her to be one to look for both this year and the next,” said Seneca head coach Drew Schulte, who enters his fourth year at Seneca. “Our expectations haven’t changed for her. She knows what she must do to help the team win. They will remain to be the same every year.”

Kayla French returns for her senior year at shooting guard after earning honorable mention all-conference honors last year.

“Kayla is the first player I have had all four years. It all starts with her. I would say she is one of the most energetic and positive people out on the floor. She’s a spark plug,” Schulte said. “She earned all-conference honorable mention last year, so I look to her for a break out senior season.”

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Junior Zoei Dodson will see an expanded role on the interior.

“Zoei has a huge role for us this year. She’s going to be our threat on the inside and be one of our main rebounders. Seeing what she has done this summer, I have no doubt that she will make a huge impact for us this upcoming season,” Schulte said.

Seneca will have a host of new players looking to step up on varsity.

Senior Shelby Rogers will compete for varsity time and be a leader. Juniors Kaleila Uto and Hunter Beard are two more upperclassmen looking to make an impact. Uto is a strong defender while Beard will by a key player in the paint.

Sophomore Parker Long is expected to step into the starting lineup this year. Classmate Hailey Dragoo brings good size to the post. Samarah Mittag and Kenzie French should make an immediate varsity impact as freshmen.

“I am very excited for this upcoming season. We graduated five seniors last year and are going to look a little differently, but I am confident that the players I have this year will step up,” Schulte said. “We return three players from last year with two of those being starters. Offensively we aren’t as big as we have been in the past, so we are going to have to be able to shoot from the outside and create scoring opportunities. Defensively, we need to be more aggressive and hit the boards harder than we ever have. We need to prevent second chances. I believe with the amount of work they have put into the summer will pay off for them.”

Seneca will open the season on Nov. 23 at Neosho.

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