Another basketball season has started in the High Country, and the Lady Huskies have been hard at work preparing to defend its conference championship.

Ashe has won the regular season championship each of the past three seasons, but a lot of familiar faces have graduated and left the program. Mallary Clay, Chandler Christensen, Mariah McVey, Lizzie Hanes, and Courtney Bowers all played in their final games last season, meaning several up-and-coming athletes will have to step up for this year to be a success.

The Lady Huskies return just one starter from last year’s team in senior MacKinsey Johnson. The forward will be one of the leaders on a team filled with youth and inexperience at the varsity level. She will be joined by three other seniors on the squad. Kayla Spears, Sierra Wilson and Hannah Shipp all bring varsity experience to the club for this year.

Spears and Wilson saw plenty of playing time last year off of the bench for head coach Laura Foster. Shipp will be playing her first year with the Lady Huskies. She spent the previous three seasons at Watauga before transferring to ACHS. Junior Haley Maloney is the only other varsity player that saw playing time for the team in the 2010-2011 season.

The rest of the squad will be filled with newcomers to the varsity level of play. Ashe will have four players who made the move from JV to varsity, and two freshmen players that will be playing high school basketball for the first time. Juniors Chelsea Revis, Taylor Price and Madison Little, as well as sophomore Emily Flanagan spent last season on the junior varsity team. Morgan Hudler and Paige Spell are freshmen that have made the jump straight to the varsity squad.

This weekend, the Lady Huskies will be taking part in a group of scrimmage games at Mount Airy before beginning the regular season next Tuesday at home against East Surry. The following week Ashe faces rival Wilkes Central at home in an early season clash with the Lady Eagles on Nov. 29.