WARSAW – Basketball teams win with great guard play.

The 2015-16 edition of the Warsaw girls basketball team will be banking on its bountiful backcourt to lead the way to success this season.

The Tigers, who finished strong a year ago by winning a Class 4-A sectional championship, should be strong on the perimeter led by its outstanding duo of Dayton Groninger and Madi Graham.

Groninger and Graham return as the top two scorers from last season when Warsaw fashioned a 15-11 overall mark and a 5-2 record in Northern Lakes Conference play. Groninger averaged a team-high 10.8 points-per-game her sophomore season. She also averaged 5.1 rebounds per contest and was second on the team with 27 treys. Graham, who averaged 7.4 ppg., led the Tigers with 33 treys and averaged 3.8 rebounds per outing.

The duo of standout perimeter players are part of a huge group of juniors this season for coach Michelle Harter’s Tigers, who have no seniors on the roster.

“We will look to Dayton and Madi to be the leaders for us this year,” said Harter, who is 105-52 entering her eighth year as head coach. “They have the most experience at the varsity level for us. They have played a lot of basketball together and we will look to them to carry a lot of weight for us on the offensive end.

“We have girls back with experience, but we are still a young team with no seniors. We are still learning and it’s still a process. I have been pleased with how hard they have worked so far in the preseason.”

The Tigers, who won the Goshen Sectional title before losing 48-36 to Merrillville in a semifinal of the Class 4-A LaPorte Regional a year ago, lost four seniors in Jodie Carlson, Vicki Harris, Pam Miller and Erin Clemens.

Harter, with a talented group of guards, expects her team to play at a little faster tempo this season.

“I’m hoping that we use our quickness and fast break more this year and get some easier opportunities to score in transition,” noted Harter, whose team averaged 41.8 points-per-game last season.

The Tigers will also rely on juniors Page Desenberg and Mariah Rivera for big contributions this year. Desenberg missed time last year due to an injury, but had a strong finish to her sophomore season. She averaged almost two points per game and 3.6 rebounds per contest.

“I expect Page to be a leader for us and Mariah played a lot last year,” Harter said.

Harter, whose team will not boast a lot of size, says rebounding will be a big factor this winter.

“Definitely, we will have to rebound well as a team,” stated Harter. “We’ve talked and focused a lot on that since we do not have a lot of size. All five players on the floor for us will have to make a conscious effort to rebound.”

“Defense will always be at the top of the list for us too.”

Warsaw allowed just 40 points-per-game last season.

The Tigers will also count on juniors Kenzie Welk, Alyssa Atkins, Maryann Marandet and Lauren Shaffner. Shaffner is the tallest Tiger on the roster at 6-1. Everyone else checks in between 5-2 and 5-10.

The Warsaw roster also has four new faces to the varsity level in junior Abby Glass and sophomores Jessie Kersey, Morgan Bruner and Emma Bohnenkamper.

Warsaw will have had plenty of time on the practice floor prior to opening its season. Practice began on Oct. 19 and the Tigers do not open until a contest at Huntington North on Nov. 14.

“I’m kind of glad to have the amount of practice time that we have,” Harter said. “We do not have a scrimmage, so we are trying to keep things fresh in practice.”

Warsaw will play its first three games on the road, at Huntington North (Nov. 14), at Fort Wayne Luers (Nov. 17) and at Tippecanoe Valley (Nov. 20). The home opener is Nov. 21 versus Noblesville. The Northern Lakes Conference opener is a trip to Plymouth on Dec. 12.