WINONA LAKE – Lee Compson expects his Lakeland Christian Academy boys basketball team to be much improved this season.

How that will translate into more wins for the Cougars remains to be seen.

LCA, now a full member of the IHSAA, begins its third season under Compson by hosting Caston Tuesday night.

One sure thing this season for the Cougars is that they have experience on their side with nine of the 11 players listed on their varsity roster being seniors.

“We have a lot of experience,” said Compson, whose team finished 2-19 last season. “We have seven or eight returning letter winners. Our seniors have a sense of urgency.

“At this point, we’re a much better team than we were at this time last year. It’s a process, but the guys have stepped up their intensity and effort in practice and as coaches we’ve been happy with that.”

“I like what everyone brings to the table for us. I think we will be much improved and I definitely think we’ll win more games this year. Our seniors have worked hard.”

Compson, who played at both Warsaw Community High School and Grace College for a pair of outstanding coaches in Al Rhodes and Jim Kessler, wants to see his veteran team finish games this season.

“It’s hard to say what our identity will be until we play, but our motto and focus is on finishing strong at the end of games this year,” Compson said. “We were in quite a few games last year that got away from us late. I want to see our guys win some of those games this season.”

Compson said he expects big things from the trio of seniors Calvin Prinsen, Collin Price and Zarek Finley. Prinsen is a 6-7 center, while the 6-0 Price is the team’s point guard and the 6-2 Finley moves up after playing JV ball a year ago.

The Cougars, 6-35 the past two seasons under Compson, will need to find more offense this time around. LCA averaged just 42.6 points-per-game during the 2011-12 campaign, while allowing 55.6 ppg.

“I think we have the opportunity to be versatile offensively with a good inside-outside combination,” said Compson. “I think that will be a better defensive team because we are bigger, stronger and faster this year than we were last year.”

“The big thing for us is that our guards need to do be able to handle pressure. They have to be strong with the ball and make good decisions for us. I also think we will be 8-9 deep this year.”

The LCA varsity roster also features seniors Noah Cole, Joel Haines, Kenneth Koontz, Chris Maron, Billy Pitts, Logan Pitts and juniors Chris Silveus and Logan Mount.

The LCA schedule for the 2012-13 campaign includes road games at Jimtown (Nov. 27) and at Tippecanoe Valley (Dec. 4). The team also hosts its own Cougar Classic Dec. 28-29 at Grace College. LCA will play in the eight-team, Class 1-A sectional at Hamilton in its first-ever IHSAA postseason appearance.

“We’ve talked about the sectional,” said Compson. “We use it as a motivating factor. Our goal at the end of the season is to go into it and make a good showing.”