WINONA LAKE — It’s been a successful start to the Allison Kauffman era at Lakeland Christian Academy. The first-year girls head basketball coach helped guide the Cougars to a 12-11 record this season. The attention now shifts to the postseason as LCA gears up for the IHSAA Class 1A Sectional at Hamilton.

The Cougars caught a break in last week’s draw by getting the bye into Friday’s game. Tuesday night’s game between Elkhart Christian and Fort Wayne Blackhawk will determine the opponent for LCA. Having that extra time to prepare is a an obvious plus for a team that has dropped three of its last four games.

“The bye does give us some advantage going into sectional week,” began Kauffman. “We will have a few more days to rest, which will be helpful going into Friday. We will also have more time to prepare for the game mentally and physically.”

LCA was 2-4 against sectional opponents this year picking up wins over Lakewood Park and ECA. The Cougars dropped two games to Bethany and a game each to Blackhawk and Hamilton. Kauffman knows seeing both of her team’s potential opponents in season is another added bonus heading into the sectional.

“ECA and Blackhawk are both two talented teams,” Kauffman stated. “With ECA, the challenge will be stopping Alyssa Buckles on the inside and being able to contain their inside game.”

Buckles had a career-high performance last Tuesday against Trinity with a 35-point outing.

“With Blackhawk,” continued the Cougar head coach, “they have a core group that plays well as a team. We will need to contain them on the defensive end as they have multiple scoring threats.”

LCA brings plenty of its own talent to the table, of course.

The Cougars are led by Rachel Sand’s 12 points per game. Sand also leads the team with six and a half rebounds per game. Hannah Delp sits just a tick below Sand, scoring 11.9 a game. Delp and Sand provide a great one-two punch for LCA while Melissa Goss offers a reliable third option. Goss scores just over five points a game but pulls down over five boards and tallies more than three steals and three assists.

The trio, along with role players like Carissa Urschalitz, Brady Gross and Ellie Nieveen, we’ll have to remain focused on staying with their normal routine in order to stay crisp for Friday’s game.

“We definitely need to keep practicing at a high level,” Kauffman said. “Keeping the intensity all week in practice and keeping our girls focused will be important. We will need to be the aggressive and more intense team from the start.

“Keeping the girls confident and working hard going into the game will be key for our team. We need to come out as one unit working together and not 12 individuals. We will focus on that whole team effort mentally and physically.”

LCA will tip at 6 p.m. on Friday.