Basketball season is back inside the Patriot Oven and new Patriot head coach Torie Peters is eager to bring the Patriots into postseason play.

The Patriots will begin play this Thursday when they travel to play in the Evangel Preseason Tournament. The tournament will run from Thursday until Saturday.

“We have a really young team but there is a lot of potential,” Peters said. “They have the potential for postseason play. They put a lot of time in during the offseason. I think there are some good things to come.”

Peters becomes the varsity girls coach after spending time coaching the junior varsity girls a season ago. Peters has coached basketball for the past five seasons. She came to Pike Liberal Arts after coaching Junior high girls basketball in Auburn.

“I enjoy all aspects of the game,” Peters said. “I enjoy coaching it. I enjoy working it. I really just enjoy it because it’s a non-stop sport. It’s a constant game and it’s ever-changing. It’s not one of those games you can control. It’s a game you have to play to your strengths and abilities. What’s fun for me is seeing what works and making adjustments.”

The Patriots will enter the season with just one senior, but also bring back a healthy number of juniors that will be recognizable faces to Patriot bench.

“We have a young varsity group, but there are a lot familiar faces coming back,” Peters said. “There are a lot of familiar faces moving up from JV to play with us. We have a good group of juniors.”

The juniors will be highlighted by Sarah Todd Floyd, Shelby Renfroe and Ansley Adams.

“Their shots have really developed,” Peters said. “Their ball handling has improved. They have great work ethic. All three of them are great leaders on and off the court.”

A strength of the team, according to Peters, may be their perimeter shooting along with conditioning.

“Our shots from the perimeter look really good right now,” Peters said. “I feel like we are in much better shape than we have been in the past. We have really put an emphasis on that. Defensively, I think things are finally clicking. I think we are in a good spot to start the season.”

The defense will be put to the test when they take part in the tournament in Evangel.

“That is why we did the preseason tournament, so we can see where are areas of weakness are and what we need to work on and improve on,” Peters said.

The Patriots will be one of three teams in the Class AAA Area 2 this season. They will be joined by Macon East Academy and Northside Methodist Academy.