It’s that time of the year. Leaves are falling off trees, temperatures are dropping, windy days are upon us, football is nearing its end and it’s time to head inside the gymnasiums and hit the hardwood. The Newton Lady Rams aren’t wasting any time, as they already are in the gym getting ready for their season.

The Lady Rams have been participating in workouts since September. On Monday they started a brief try-out period for any newcomers, but since then it has been all business for Newton. They have about two weeks left until they hit the court for an exhibition against Butler on Nov. 15.

Lady Rams’ Head Coach Tiffani Johnson had one of her most successful seasons at Newton last year, as her team finished with a 21-7 record. They also finished with an undefeated record in region play (12-0), making them the 2013- 2014 Region 2-AAAAAA champs. But, the season didn’t finish the way the Lady Rams wanted as they lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Now, Johnson has her work cut out for her as she lost seven seniors from last year’s team, with most of them taking the majority of the minutes on the floor. Newton does have about eight returning players to the roster this year, but for most of them this is going to be their first time getting big minutes on the varsity stage.

“I don’t really have a player that has had a lot of playing time at all,” Johnson said. “So I am kind of seeing who’s going to emerge.”

Though they are young, Johnson does expect a couple of her players to be become leaders on the court, one being Imani Broadnax. Broadnax was on the varsity team as a freshman and received a decent amount of minutes coming off the bench. In just her freshman year, you could see that she had talent especially on the offensive end, attacking the basket, and drawing contact to get to the free throw line. She also has a toughness about her that can benefit the team tremendously.

Kayanna Henderson was another name that coach mentioned. Henderson is entering her junior year, and last year as a sophomore she brought some stinginess on the defensive end, and was a solid rebounder.

This year will probably be one of the most stressful for Johnson due to the youth and lack of size, but it will also give her a chance to show her coaching prowess while developing her players and getting them to fully understand her system.

“You’re starting all the way over going from seniors last year,” Johnson said. “Now we’re just starting with the basics, getting fundamentals together and they are learning our system.”

Johnson did mention that she loves the enthusiasm and the drive with this new batch of girls. They’re ready to go get it, and being at the practice you can see the intensity they bring. They’re not scared to mess up and take coaching when needed. The freshmen are also coming in with some nice talent, so that’s another plus for the Lady Rams.

Newton does invite two new teams into the region, Lakeside and Tucker. Tucker is a perennial state playoff team, who last year were the 2014 Class AAAAA State Champions. But, Newton is ready to take on the challenge as the season draws closer.