ARGYLE — Nicole Allison enters her first year as head coach of the Orioles at a very opportune time. Argyle finished with a 17-6 overall record and went 9-3 in the Six Rivers East a season ago, losing in the regional final.

“I have high expectations this season with a returning squad of nine players that have a ton of varsity experience,” Allison said.

That talent includes senior Jena Saalsaa, a first-team all-conference forward that reached the 1,000-point milestone a season ago when she averaged a conference-leading 20.4 points and nine rebounds per game. Senior guard Kirsten Ostby (11.7 ppg) was a second-team all-conference selection, and senior forward Natalie Allison was honorable mention. In all, the Orioles have six seniors and three juniors returning.

“This group plays well together, and everyone can contribute offensively and defensively,” coach Allison said. “We have fast guards and tall, physical posts that will make it hard for opponents to defend.”

Senior forward Alysabeth Lantz (7.7 ppg) will look to continue to help in the post, while the coaching staff is excited for the arrival of couple of underclassmen — sophomores Allie Godfrey and Rachel Gilbertson, and freshmen Tori Lantz and Grace Ganshert.

“Allie is a player with a high basketball IQ. She’s a sharpshooter and a good ball handler. Rachel has great speed and is a good defender,” Allison said. “Tori has great footwork as a post and has the potential to be a great scorer. Grace is an excellent ball handler and up-tempo player and can score inside and out.”

Black Hawk, which rolled through the regular season and conference schedule a year ago, is the biggest challenge the Orioles will face, according to coach Allison.

“Mike Flanagan has a great team and they are well coached. I think everyone in our conference has been working hard trying to figure out how to limit Black Hawk’s scoring opportunities and break their stifling press,” coach Allison said.

Argyle will have to continue to work on its defense and full- and half-court sets, Allison said. “We need to get better every practice at the nuances of applying defensive pressure … creating pressure and capitalizing on turnovers.”

If all goes according to plan, the coaching staff will be ready for the next step.

“We want to focus on one game at a time and continue to improve throughout the season so we can make the most of tournament time opportunities,” coach Allison said.