The New Franklin girls enter the 2023-24 basketball season with a series of unknowns. The Lady Bulldogs graduated their second-leading scorer from a year ago, lost a starting forward to a transfer, have no seniors on the roster, and have a new head coach at the helm.

Parker Gross will lead the Lady Bulldogs this season. He came to New Franklin after coaching in a large program in Peoria, Illinois, for the last seven years. But he’s not entirely unfamiliar with New Franklin girls’ basketball. His wife, Courtney (nee Wilmsmeyer), was a standout player on the team in the early 2000s.

Coach Gross is originally from Kansas City and said he is excited about the opportunity to move closer to home.

“So far, things have been great with the transition to a new school,” he said. “Coming from a very large school, things have been very different in some ways, but I’ve enjoyed my experience to start the year and the people in the community have been incredibly supportive of me and my family during the process.”

Gross and the Lady Bulldogs return their leading scorer from last season. Lily Chitwood led New Franklin with 15.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per game last season as a freshman. She has clearly not missed a step, scoring 22 points with game-highs of six steals and eight assists in the team’s season opener against Brunswick on Friday. New Franklin handily won the home opener 62-37.

“She is a solid player at both ends of the floor and brings some much-needed experience at the point guard position and plays an important role for this group,” Gross said.

Chitwood was part of a solid one-two punch last year with Carly Dorson. The senior was a significant part of New Franklin’s package last season, scoring 14.1 points a game with 7.1 rebounds a night.

Stepping up in her absence Friday night was guard Lydia Burnett. The sophomore scored a game-high 23 points with a perfect 7-for-7 performance from the 3-point arc and dished out four assists against Brunswick.

Gross said Burnett is stepping into a bigger role as a starter this season. “She can shoot the ball from the outside and can see the floor well to distribute the ball. She will be an important player for us throughout the season.”

New Franklin will have two juniors in the starting lineup this season. Emerson Eads is a scrappy guard who plays tough defense. Gross said she will be one of a few guards handling the basketball this year. 

Brooklynn Brown is another returning junior. A versatile player, she is a scoring threat in the paint and at midrange. 

“She will be a versatile player for us, playing both inside and outside,” Gross said.

New Franklin will start two sophomores this season. Alongside Chitwood will be tall forward Skylar Shaw. 

“She has the size to match up down low with opponents where she will be both an offensive and defensive threat,” Grosse said. “She will be a threat to catch and attack the basket from anywhere on the court.”

New Franklin finished with an outstanding 20-9 record last season and a district title under head coach Morgan Grosse. The team graduated its four-year first-team All-Conference and All-District senior Carly Dorson and fellow seniors Kelsi Fair and Emma Rice. Junior KeBrea Fair transferred to Fayette this season, and an athletic Brynn Belstle is sitting out the season.

This year’s 11-player roster has no seniors but boasts two juniors, eight sophomores, and a freshman. 

“We’re very young across the board, but I really believe these girls can play well together and will find success throughout the season,” Gross said. “We know with such a young group and a lot of learning to do, there will likely be some bumps along the way, but that’s part of the process of the game.”

Coach Gross said his team’s smaller size this year will force change to the offensive and defensive approaches. He said a major point of emphasis is a high level of effort and intensity at the defensive end, regardless of the matchup. 

“One of the biggest strengths we have is that the girls are willing to get things done together and focus on making the next right play for the team,” he said. “There are a lot of unknowns about our team going into the season, with so many contributors from last year’s group having graduated or not playing this season.”

The Lady Bulldogs traveled to Salisbury Tuesday night after the Advertiser went to press. Next week, they enter the Glasgow tournament as the sixth seed and will face third-seeded and area rival Fayette at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 28. Gross said he felt a middle seed in the tournament is fitting.

Should they pull the upset, the Bulldogs would likely move on to face second-seeded Marceline in the semifinals.

New Franklin will face Fayette for the second time in a week with a return to the regular season at home on Dec. 5.

Gross and the Lady Bulldogs will usher in the new year with the 95th edition of their annual tournament starting Dec. 30. Their third and final tournament of the regular season will be at Sturgeon. 

The Bulldogs finished runner-up in both the Glasgow and New Franklin tournaments last year and placed third at Surgeon. 

New Franklin has already gotten off to a great start, defeating Brunswick 62-37 in Friday’s home opener. “The game tonight was a great overall team effort. I was very proud of the defensive effort and intensity that the girls played with for four quarters,” Gross said.

“I truly enjoy coaching and teaching and genuinely look forward to every opportunity we get to go out and compete,” said Gross. “Outside of that, I’m just looking forward to the opportunity we have in front of us to go out and learn and grow as a group every week.”