Recently-hired Weatherly girls basketball coach Will Frantz knew he had his work cut out for him. However, he is welcoming the challenge with open arms and a great response.

This year 31 girls tried out for the team, which Frantz believes is an all-time high."People associated with the program have told me that they can't remember ever having to make cuts at Weatherly," Frantz admits. "I'm impressed with the enthusiasm so far and I think that will translate into some good things down the road."Graduation took four starters from a season ago. This season could be called a rebuilder, but having the numbers up is a good place to start.The new coach is looking to bring a different attitude to the Lady Wreckers and hopefully instill the winning mentality into the girls."I'm hoping to start something here and create a new culture with the girls," he said. "Some of the girls on the team may get down early and they have a tendency to hang their heads right away and they cannot do that. So we're hoping to turn them into better fighters and teach them to win."Frantz has had the chance to coach the girls during the summer."I've coached plenty of AAU teams and numerous athletes, but this might just be the closest group of girls that I've ever had the opportunity to coach," he said. "They know each other really well and will fight for each other, and hopefully, I think we are going to be able to surprise some teams as the season goes on."Dominique Adamczyk returns and is the only starter from a year ago."She is capable of doing a little bit of everything," Frantz said. "She's a leader for us and the only one returning with a wealth of experience."Jess Polchin, Tea Heister and Kelly Parker are three others that are expected to contribute for Weatherly this year."Polchin is just a beast," Frantz said. "She's not the biggest player, but she will lead us in rebounds because of her aggressiveness. Tea Heister will be our point guard, most likely, and she is just a lightning bolt and will cause defensive problems for other teams. And Parker, to my understanding, was the highest scoring average last year. Those three girls are sure to get plenty of action and contribute in big ways."Big girls Cheyanne Wallish and Courtney Lovetz also received praise from the coach."We'll look to those two to work hard on the inside and be a presence down low," he said.Early on, Frantz likes what he sees and will hope for the constant improvement to pay dividends."We will keep improving as the season goes along," he said. "These girls work hard and that makes it easy for me. Every day I look forward to going and working with this group. Depending on how we play each night, there are going to be different leading scorers each night, and that will make it difficult for other teams to match up."With the tough competition in the Schuylkill League, the Wreckers will need to get better and continue to work hard. It seems as though they're on the right track.