ABOVE: Front row, from left: Kayla Mattson, Phoebe Madsen, Harley Geistfeld, Keira Benck, Josie Moeller. Back row, from left: Addison Nowicki, Ava Donohue, Madisen Lewis, Norah Chase, Londyn Bowers, Coaches: TJ Pytleski, Bryan Nowicki.

GRANADA — The Granada-Huntley East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther Jaguars are looking for a winning season.

And even with a strong roster, they are going to lean more on three veterans to take the lead and set the tone heading into this season.

“It’s going to be a positive year,” said Jaguars girls basketball head coach TJ Pytleski. “We lost some talent, some talented kids. We had a really good season last year, but we’ve got a good returning group as well. And we might struggle a little bit here at the beginning, figuring out whose role is what. But, you know, at the end of the year, I think we’re going to. I’m going to be happy with the performance that we have.”

Coming off of a 21-7 overall season and being 13-2 in conference play the team is aiming at stringing together multiple playoff wins this season to build on last season’s results.

“I’ve got three returning starters,” said Pytleski. “Two of them that have played two years already. And one of them that should have probably started last year. So I got three core girls to build around. And, you know, that’s I think that’s where our biggest success is going to be in the core that we brought back.”

With the return of Maddie Lewis, Kiera Benck, and Londyn Bowers Pytleski is confident in building his team around the veteran leaders who had plenty of meaningful minutes on the varsity squad last season.

“[They are] multi-sport athletes, which is great,” said Pytleski. “You know, you get that from a small school. That’s the core that we have back. … I look for them to be leaders and have other utility players filling in.”

Building up the pace of play is a focus for the Jaguars this year and finding out where the other players fit best to be effective night in and night out.

“We’d like to play a little bit faster if we could,” said Pytleski. “We have a pretty deep bench that gives us the opportunity to do that, to play a little bit faster and defensive-wise, it just always comes down to hustle on a defensive end, which team hustles the best. So, if we can work hard on the defensive end, then I like our chances there, too.”

Though there is a desire to put together a winning season, making sure the team loves the game and is enjoying their time on the court is a main focus for the coaching staff.

“If we can make sure that everybody’s having fun and you’re feeling good our record will be what our record will be,” said Pytleski. “I don’t really set record goals, to be honest with you, because, you know, what if you don’t achieve it? But, if we get a playoff win, I think that’d be a good start.

“You’d want multiple playoff wins this year. We had that last year and so look forward to maybe getting back, I guess you take the playoffs game by game. But, I think above 500 and a couple of playoff wins would be a successful year.”

The Jaguars travel to take on the Martin County West Mavericks on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in Trimont.