It’s been rather a lean couple of seasons for the Park girl’s basketball team. The Wolfpack have gone 1-26 two seasons ago and just 6-21 last year. Park, however, is just two seasons removed from the Taylor Johnson-Delaney Young-Riley Perryman-Molly Wenner team that went 19-9. That’s the level the Wolfpack will be aiming to get back to.

With a handful of key veteran players returning for longtime coach Stephanie Tolkinen – along with some promising newcomers – Tolkinen is hoping the Wolfpack’s fortunes may be about to change for the better. “They keep me young,” said Tolkinen, who is entering her 16th year as head coach of the Wolfpack and 21st season at Park.

Park will again be a very young team this season. Unusually, Park returns no seniors this campaign. Last year’s roster was comprised of four seniors, six sophomores, six freshmen and two eighth graders. So while the Wolfpack look to be improved, they are still very young. “We’re looking for the next step in the progression of improvement of understanding how to play the game, of the competiveness” said Tolkinen. “They all want to win a little bit more. And I think these kids have been doing a lot of really good stuff in the gym in the summer and in the fall.

“I’m really excited for this group because a lot of them are just starting to figure it out late in the season last year,” she added. “How to play on a varsity court, how to be in a varsity gym.

Park welcomes back two top players from last year’s team in 5-foot-10 junior and leading scorer Justine Jameson and 5-foot-4 junior point guard Elsa Olson. Jameson – who can be plugged in anywhere from positions one to five — averaged 12.7 points per game, while Olson scored at a 5.6 clip.

Missing from the lineup will be graduated seniors Ashanti Boykin, Ayanii Satcher and Madeline Blumberg. Taking their places will be returning part-time starters such as sophomore guards Emma Ambroz and Edie Walton. Forwards Avery Corrigan and Bryleigh Dana will also be in the mix.

“We saw (last season) some other freshmen starting to show some glimpses of really good things last year,” Tolkinen said.

The Wolfpack will be guard-heavy this season and fairly athletic, the coach noted. “We’re going to get up and down the court and play some solid defense this year,” Tolkinen said. “I think we can compete. By the time we get going midway through that we’re going to hit our stride and do some really good things.”

Park opens the season Friday, Jan. 15 with a game at Stillwater.