Craig Daily Press

Craig — The past few years, underclassmen on the Moffat County High School girls basketball team have had to exercise patience.

The Lady Bulldogs have been led the past four seasons by essentially the same starting unit under coach Craig Mortensen, as the wins and Western Slope League Championships piled up.

That era has come and gone — MCHS graduated its two most prolific scorers along with its entire starting lineup — opening the door for a new lineup.

The new era began at the end of May and took a break Wednesday as Mortensen and the Bulldogs returned from a summer camp at the University of Wyoming.

“We’ve been working hard the whole month of June,” Mortensen said. “We actually started the last weekend in May.”

The Bulldogs hosted four teams May 31 and June 1 at MCHS. The team then competed in a tournament at Utah Valley State College in Oren, Utah, traveled to Denver to compete in the girls Gold Crown tournament and headed to Laramie, Wyo., on Sunday.

“What we really do (at the summer events) is look at the kids and get an idea (of the future rosters), but nothing is set this early,” Mortensen said. “Whoever looked the best now sometimes changes. The objective is for the kids to get an idea of what they need to do to get better and hopefully they will work out from now until the start of basketball in November.

“As coaches, we have to figure out that is going to work best for us with the personnel that we have.”

Mortensen said this year’s roster would differ from those in years’ past.

The Bulldogs lack the post presence brought on by Markie Workman, Desirae Pearcey and Kayla Maneotis the past four years.

But, Mortensen said he will adapt.

“Those girls were a big presence inside for us in years past,” he said. “We are a smaller team this year, but, the thing is, these kids have stepped up this summer. I’ll tell you what, we’re going to be a pretty good shooting team.”

MCHS returns six seniors.

Mortensen said each has a chance to start.

But, nothing is set in stone.

“Who we start, and how we start will probably vary from game to game,” Mortensen said. “It really will. We’ve got four juniors that all played varsity at some point this summer, too. That should help.”

Mortensen pointed out two freshmen that made impressions on the coaching staff during the month-long workouts: Melissa Camilletti and Annie Sadvar.

Camilletti “is going to be a good one,” he said. “Annie Sadvar is a big, strong girl, who is going to impress people. They work hard and they play hard. There are quite a few kids on the freshman level that we’ll mix in there.”

Mortensen also said he is enthused about putting a new team together.

It’s a task he hasn’t had to worry about in a while.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity to try to put a team together again,” he said. “It’s going to be a new team for me. In fact, some of these girls I’ve never coached directly. It’s been an indirect thing.

“And, the thing I like the most, is the girls are really excited about the chance to play at the varsity level.”

Last year’s juniors — now stepping into leadership roles as seniors — made an impression on the coach this month, leading to optimism entering the fall.

Courtney “Edington, (Kylie) Bauman, Dani (Danielle Kaw­cak) and Danette (Crofts), they’re excited,” Mortensen said. “Ariel Sanchez and Alicia Nelson played a little varsity last year, so you mix in these new kids and we should have a lot of fun.”

John Vandelinder can be reached at 875-1793 or jvandelinder@craigdailypress.com