LAKEVILLE - It was certainly a year to remember! The LaVille girls high school basketball team took a few people by surprise in 2022-23. With a new coach, new ideas, and a group of hard-working players, Nicholas Amor set lofty goals for this program.   Then, day-by-day, game-by-game things started to fall into place for Amor and his Lancer team. Led by seniors Heaylyn Kwiatkowski and Lucy Sherk and a group of underclassmen, LaVille started to catch fire. Upset victories against state-ranked South Central (Union Mills) and Triton help build confidence. Then in mid-January, Amor's club traveled to Knox for a key Hoosier North game.  With a couple starters on the bench, the underclassmen stepped up and wound up winning 48-41 in overtime. That next week, the TCU Bi-County Tournament got started against Oregon-Davis.  LHS defeated the Bobcats, then sidelined Argos before knocking off defending Bi-County champion Bremen to win their first Bi-County title in 30 years. LaVille rode that wave of adrenaline to an 8-game winning streak through the first two games of the sectional. Included in that string was an upset victory against the host Bluejays.   North Judson beat LaVille in a defensive game during the regular season. Waiting in the wings was a sectional championship date with South Central (Union Mills). The two teams battled before the Satellites were able to pull away late for a 52-40 victory. Amor's squad finished with a 19-7 mark, the best since the 1988-89 and 1986-87 teams won 19 games in a season.   Seven letterwinners return to get Amor started in his second season in Lakeville. Leading the way will be Brooke Edison. The 5'8" junior can play guard, post up, shoot the trey, and rebound.  She averaged 6.6 points per game to go with 4 rebounds per outing.Point-guard Mikalah Kuskye, a junior, averaged 4.7 ppg, 2 rpg, and 2.3 steals per game.  Also back are senior Lily Smith 4.1ppg, 2.4 rpg, and 1.6 spg, along with junior Jasmine  Foster 2.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg, senior London Kwiatkowski 2.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, sophomore Ava Weil and junior Mackena Deason. One area that Amor and his staff will be looking for will be replacements for graduates Heaylyn Kwiatkowski and Lucy Sherk. Kwiatkowski led the way at nearly 12 points per game, while Sherk was close behind at a shade of 11 points per outing.  Sherk hauled down 7.2 rebounds per game.  Kwiatkowski added 6.1 boards. "Losing the seniors last year was a challenge," said Amor.  "But the younger girls are eager and ready to fill the positions they left behind."With more than half of the scoring and nearly half of the rebounding gone, Amor looks to the next group moving forward."I think we have to discover what our identity will be this year," Amor said when asked about how to improve on that success.  "Every season is a new team and we have to figure out who we are. Defense will still be a priority for me as a coach, and offensively we will make adjustments being that we have a lot of guards in the lineup." Speaking of defense, LaVille allowed 32.7 points on defense, which was good for 13th best in the state.  The Lancers were 13-2 when teams were held under 33 points. With depth at the guard position, LaVille will look to a taller group in the perimeter to challenge the opposition. "Speed and length," chimed Amor when asked about team strengths.  "We are guard heavy so we will push the ball and control the tempo this way. Our guards are not small girls and can use their length to their advantage." With 5'7" and 5'8" guards pushing the ball down the floor, the Lancers look to use the transition game to get to the rack and not allow the defense to set up. Amor knows there will be areas of size differences during the course of the game.  It's what his team is able to do when that happens. "We look to our guards," insisted Amor.  "There will be mismatches in most of our games so we have to find ways to capitalize on them." Newcomers to full time varsity minutes will include players that got time on junior varsity and varsity a year ago. "I am counting on (sophomore) Ava Weil, (junior) Mackenna Deason, and (sophomore) Maddie Singleton all giving me solid varsity minutes this year," said Amor.  Senior Porsha Coffin also looks to contribute minutes, as well. As Amor moves into his second season at LaVille, we asked the coach about what he learned in his rookie season and goals for 2023-24. "I've been humbled that I needed to make more adjustments than I initially thought I would need to offensively," said Amor.  "I have a different team and my coaching style in some aspects needs to change with the team change. Our goal is to be consistent and show that LaVille Girls basketball has made the stride towards success and we do not want to back peddle. Bi-County and Sectionals will always be goals and my goal for the program is that in years to come those wins become very attainable and we start to broaden our desires to get further along in the tournament." Caston (7-0) finished the 2022-23 season as Hoosier North champions.  North Judson (6-1) was second and Pioneer (5-2) third.  Then came a strong move by LaVille in the conference standings.  LHS went from 2-5 in 2021-22 to 4-3 and fourth place a year ago. Triton, Culver, Knox, and Winamac rounded the rest of the conference. "The HNAC is going to be tough this year," Amor noted of the conference in 2023-24.  "Caston being the front runner. We will need to be prepared and have a different strategy for each opponent." JT Beehler returns as varsity assistant, Steve Cox is the junior varsity coach and Angie Dunlap assistant coach. LaVille will open the regular season on November 2 against Jimtown.  The JV game is scheduled to tip at 6 p.m. inside Dale E. Cox Gymnasium.  * * * * * LAVILLE LANCERS Coach: Nicholas Amor (19-7 in 2nd Season at LaVille) Assistant Coaches: JT Beehler, Steve Cox, Angie Dunlap 2022-2023 record: 19-7 (4-3 HNAC) Returning letter winners: (7) Seniors - London Kwiatkowski (G) 12 2.9p/2.4r,Lily Smith (G) 12 4.1 ppg/2.4r/1.6s. Juniors - Mackena Deason (G) 11 0p/0r, Brooke Edsion (G) 11 6.6p/4.0r/2.3s, Jasmine Foster (C) 11 2.4p/1.5r, Mikalah Kuskye (G) 11 4.7/2.0r/2.3s. Sophomore - Ava Weil (G) 10 1.4p. Varsity Newcomers: (3) Senior - Rylie Aschenbrenner (G), Porsha Coffin (G). Junior - Sophomore - Madi Singleton (G). Opener: v. Jimtown, Nov. 2