LCA senior Melissa Goss will lead the Cougars this winter. (File photo by Mike Deak)

WINONA LAKE – Under first-year head coach Allison Kauffman, the Lakeland Christian Academy girls basketball program reached a level of excellence. Now, the team is looking to exceed those standards.

Kauffman’s varsity team went 12-12 a season ago, not too shabby considering LCA took on some perennial powers like Argos, Fort Wayne Blackhawk and Jimtown, and beat some established programs like Culver, Elkhart Christian Academy and Lakewood Park Christian. LCA boasted of a pair of quality seniors in Rachel Sand and Hannah Delp, who carried the squad.

But with the two graduating, along with Carissa Urschalitz, they made up 27.7 points, 15.7 rebounds and 5.2 steals per game, more than a bulk majority of the Cougar output. Lakeland as a whole scored under 40 points per contest.

So who will Kauffman tab to get the numbers on the scoreboard and in the stat columns?

At the forefront of the LCA plans this winter is senior point guard Melissa Goss. The captain doesn’t have overwhelming career numbers, scoring just 5.9 points per game as a junior, but averaged over five rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block per game in more of a jack-of-all-trades role. Asked to hold a similar position this year, but raising the scoring numbers, Goss could immediately have her fingers all over the blueprints.

“Melissa Goss will be key for our leadership this season,” Kauffman said. “As our point guard, she is our floor captain, but she is also a servant leader off the court to her teammates. She has a big heart and it definitely shows.”

Kauffman will look to her junior class to also take on a bigger role. Brady Gross (2.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.9 bpg), Jess Slone and Heather Plastow will be tabbed to pick up the slack. Kauffman also sees sophomore Anna Reimink (1.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.2 spg) to slot into the offensive mix.

“The scoring will be more evenly distributed as we have multiple girls who have the potential to put the ball in the hole on a regular basis,” Kauffman said.

Sophomores Maddie Paris and Abigail Fishel will return to the varsity lineup and should get plenty of on-court experience. Newcomers Winnie Kyandaluba and Hannah Salmons also should see some time.

“Reflecting on last season, I felt like our team did not reach the full potential that we could have,” Kauffman said. “Going into the offseason, I was excited to see how these girls wanted to work to get better and improve as a team. They have really developed good team unity.”

LCA opens Tuesday, Nov. 8, at Cornerstone Christian. Its home opener is Nov. 17 against Lakewood Park Christian.