Danbury has eye on River title

LAKESIDE — Danbury's girls basketball program won its first-ever district title last season. The Lakers were 24-3 overall and 16-2 in the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division. That has now become the expectation for the program. Danbury will be a little more of the hunted this season, but coach Joe Miller is OK with that. The Lakers will be able to do a little bit of everything on the court. "Team-wise, we have nine girls that we can play and they all have a lot of skills and abilities that allow us to mix and match a little bit," Miller said. "We have a lot of versatility and flexibility in our lineup. We can go really small and really fast or we can go pretty fast and halfway decently big. If we want to go big, we're still pretty fast, but we can go big if we want to." Danbury was one of three teams in the SBC River that won a district title last season. Gibsonburg and Tiffin Calvert also competed in the regional semifinals. All three squads lost in that round. The grind of facing those two teams twice — as well as squads like Lakota and Woodmore — helped prepared the Lakers for a deep tournament run. "That shows the depth of the conference and quality of play," Miller said. "I'd like to think we're considered one of the favorites this year, but there's no guarantee. There's a lot of good teams in the league and we'll have to fight every night to get wins because there's no gimmes. "We've been the runner-up the last two years and I think our kids are tired of being runner-up." Senior point guard Maci Brown is back to run the show for the Lakers. She averaged 4.5 points per game and led the league in assists at 4.4 a night and steals at 4.2. She was named first-team SBC River for her efforts. "She's the table setter," Miller said. "She handles the pressure very well. She distributes the ball very well. This year we're looking for her to be a little more of a scoring option. She's taken that and done a better job of looking for her shot much more than she has in the past." Seniors Mia McDonald and Ella McDonald also return for Danbury. Mia averaged 7.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while Ella added 5.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals. Mia was honorable mention in the league. "Mia has really improved her post moves. She was a good post player last year, but I think she's going to be great this year," Miller said. "Ella played guard on the wing last year for us, but we're going to utilize her a little bit more at the post this year to start. That doesn't mean we can't flip her back. A jack-of-all-trades, she plays all five positions." Seniors Katelynne Bergman and Thea Brickner should fill out the starting lineup. "Katelynne is an outstanding athlete and will be our best defensive player along with Zoe Uhnick. We'll put pressure on the ball with her and use her athleticism to get down the floor in transition," Miller said. "Thea, we had to play her point guard more than we wanted to last year, but she's going to play a wing now. I think she has excelled in her new role." Uhnick, Charley Lenthe, Lauren Bergman and Paige Corbin will be ones to watch off the bench. Uhnick was a state qualifier in track on three relay teams last spring while Bergman is a "slasher," Miller said. Danbury hasn't had the services of the 6-foot-1 Corbin, who was injured over the summer at the University of Findlay prospect camp. She could be back after the first of the new year. The squad will be looking to replace the production of graduates Maria Maringer (15.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, first-team SBC River) and Kelly Uhnick (8.6 points a contest, second-team league), among others. "I think our morning weight training strength and conditioning continues to be extremely helpful to our program," Miller said. "We can run. We can play fast. There's not a lot of schools that can mimic the speed at which we play. That will be interesting for some. "When we get in those situations, we know we have to grind it out and play half-court defense and execute the half-court offense." Roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr.1 Thea Brickner W 5-5 12 2 Maci Brown PG 5-5 12 3 Zoe Uhinck W/P 5-6 11 4 Mia McDonald P 5-10 12 5 Ella McDonald P/W 5-8 12 12 Grace McDonald PG/W 5-6 10 13 Lauren Bergman W/PG 5-5 10 15 Katelynne Bergman W/P 5-7 12 22 Paige Corbin P 6-1 11 30 Charley Lenthe P 5-8 11 34 Aaliyah Ohm P/W 5-6 10