WHEELING – In a highly competitive field, the Linsly Cadets are staying cognizant of the different challenges they will face in the 2023-24 season.

“We are not as deep as we have been in the past, that’s definitely going to be our challenge for the year, our depth of roster,” Linsly head coach Rebecca Upton said. “We spent a lot of time this offseason just talking about who we are and what our strengths are. Understanding that people are really going to have to embrace their roles this year, and not everybody’s role is going to be the same. But everybody’s role is going to be important for our success long-term.

“It might be defensive, it might be ball movement, it might be scrapping on the floor or it might be scoring points, but everybody has their role and they need to fill them to the best of their ability.”

The Cadets graduate two seniors, while an international student from Spain did not return this year. Their returners start with junior Haylen Cook and senior Rosa Sohlberg.

“I think that the core group are all returners, so the experience is pretty good,” Upton said. “Haylen is, I think, one of the best if not the best point guard in the valley. She’s smart, she understands the game, she can control the floor, she can play defense, she can score, she can do everything and we’re lucky to have her.

“Rosa Sohlberg, a senior starter, is coming back better than last year, physically better. Second year in the program, and she understands what her role is going to be.”

Surrounding the two will be 5-foot-3 senior guard Alayna Cook, 5-foot-9 senior guard Jade Purpura, and 5-foot-4 junior guard Abby White. Cook and Sohlberg are the only seniors on the roster.

“I think we’re good shooters, me and Haylen are pretty good at driving,” Sohlberg said.

“Last year, our team was much bigger, we had more players. I think we still have players who can shoot, dribble, score inside.”

“I think because we don’t go as deep, this group is going to get used to playing with each other,” Upton said. “Sometimes we may only go six, and those six have been really working together all through practice. I think that’s a silver lining.”

While the Cadets still see strengths in different skills, they’ll go about their business in different ways than the year prior.

“It’s going to be a different tempo for us this year, we’re trying to figure out how that’s really going to look,” Upton said. We’re not going to transition as well as we have in the past, we’re going to pick and choose our moments in that regard, it’s just going to be different.”

“I think our scrimmages have shown us where we are,” Cook said. “We definitely have places to improve but I know we’re getting there.”

Playing against their usual competition, Upton sees no easy games for her new-look Cadets.

“AAA in the OVAC is super competitive,” Upton said. “Union Local’s in our league, there’s Wheeling Central with Brook Edge and Kaitlyn Blake who transferred in from John Marshall, they’re going to be super tough this year, Martins Ferry’s going to be super tough, they’ve got a great freshman plus what they’re returning. You’ve got Bellaire who’s always scrapping every game, Fort Frye is always there.

“We’ve got to go out there and play some bigger schools just because of the nature of scheduling, so we’re going to have to step up and win some games, it’s going to be a challenge.”

Upton is assisted by Rebekah Martin.