Times Observer File Photo Lilee Renninger is one of the top returning players for the Eisenhower girls basketball team.

The Eisenhower Knights basketball team will look to improve on last year’s 5-17 overall record, which included a 4-12 record in District 10 Region 5 play.

They’ll have to do it without the No. 2 all-time leading scorer in school history after Emily Wheeler graduated and took her skills to Penn State-Dubois.

“We will certainly miss her and all she did for the program,” Eisenhower head coach Mike Logue said of Wheeler, “but we feel we have a solid core of girls ready to step up.”

The Knights will look to senior Lilee Renninger to step into Wheeler’s spot and lead this year.

“With Lilee and Kayla Greene coming back along with Ellie Strausser and Delaney Chase,” Logue said, “we’ve got a good core of girls, we’ve just got to get some time playing together.”

The most difficult opponent for the Knights this season will be a shared one by every team on their schedule — COVID-19 and all of the regulations and requirements that go along with it will definitely pose difficulties for them.

“We are preparing hard for the season and just trying to get the PIAA’s 15 required practices in,” Logue said, “that way if we have to shut down for any reason, we can start right back up without any delay.”

Even with enough practices, PIAA has installed guidelines for returning to play should a team miss practice time.

The constant changes to the schedule make it difficult for any coach to prepare for a season. In the case of trying to schedule one preseason scrimmage, due to the ever-changing COVID situation, the Knights coach had six changes to the schedule in a span of of three days.

While the Knights have to deal with constant uncertainty as far as scheduling goes, they do have the luxury of welcoming back former Knights standout Mallory Trumbull as an assistant coach.

“It has been great having her come on board,” Logue said. “She played for me and knows our system. Her experience playing in college can only help our players. … I’m lucky to have Diane Elmquist and Mallory as my assistant coaches.”

“We are continuing to work on our fundamentals and learning to play together with the right combination of players,” Logue added. “We will be ready when the first game happens.”