Experience at key positions could pay dividends this season as the Colfax Lady Falcons girls basketball team prepares to defend its Pioneer Valley League basketball championship.

“We have some experience back so that should be helpful,” said Colfax coach Dave Campbell, who has his Lady Falcons off to a 3-1 start to begin the season. “But we have some youth too, so there will be growing pains.”

Campbell, who has led Colfax to at least a piece of the PVL crown the last two seasons and has directed the Lady Falcons to three straight CIF Northern California Regional berths, hopes to use the same style of play this year to have his team produce wins.

That means an aggressive man-to-man look on the defensive end and an up-tempo attack on offense.

“We won’t be real flashy but we need to bear down on defense and run our offense to be successful,” Campbell said. “The girls know the style that we run. Now we just have to go out and do it.”

Colfax’s two returning starters for 2012-13 will be senior Ashley Tobiasz and junior Raegan Lillie. Both played pivotal roles for the Lady Falcons down the stretch a year ago. Lillie averaged 11.0 points a game and directed the offense, while Tobiasz, a swing forward-guard, scored at 8.0 points a game and averaged five rebounds an outing.

Other returning players who will add experience for the Lady Falcons will be post player Kaila Tremoureux, who received solid minutes a year ago, and seniors Delaney Shinn, Cassie Harrison, Dani Hicks and Kelsey Larson.

But the long term success of the Lady Falcons this season could hinge on how well the juniors, sophomores and freshmen on the Colfax roster adapt to varsity-level play.

Looking to add spark to the Lady Falcons attack up from the JV squad are juniors Kylee Kirkland and Lindsay Biles and sophomore Taylor Avila. Meanwhile, freshmen Kyra Heimann and Kylee Bauer both have shown promise in early drills.

“We hope to use the pre-season as a good starting point and grow as a team,” Campbell said. “We have a good core of players that we hope will improve as a team as we go.”

Colfax High Girls Basketball Schedule

Dec. 6-8 – at Oroville Tournament

Dec. 11 – at Casa Roble

Dec. 13-15 – at Del Oro Tournament

Dec. 18 – MONTEREY TRAIL

Dec. 20 – at Nevada Union

Dec. 27-29 – at Folsom Tournament

Jan. 9 – at Placer

Jan. 11 – at Foothill

Jan. 16 – BEAR RIVER

Jan. 18 – CENTER

Jan. 22 – at Lincoln

Jan. 24 – PLACER

Jan. 29 – FOOTHILL

Jan. 31 – at Bear River

Feb. 5 – at Center

Feb. 7 – LINCOLN

Colfax Lady Falcons

Coach: Dave Campbell (4th Year)
Last season: 18-10

League finish: 1^st
CIF playoffs: Div. IV semi-finalist

Returning starters: 2