Ron Thompson, the new head coach of the Oakville Senior High girls’ basketball team, spent the previous two seasons as the school’s junior varsity head coach.

Thompson hopes that a starting lineup full of seniors should help improve on last season’s overall record of 14-11 and a 2-6 record in Suburban West Conference play.

“As long as we stay healthy, we should be OK,” Thompson told the Call. “Our guards are a little more confident this year and we’re going to expect a lot out of our seniors this year.”

The Tigers return their top scoring threat from last season — Sherry Zehner, who averaged 12.1 points and 4.9 rebounds a game. The senior captain and Second Team All-Suburban West Conference selection also recorded 15 steals and a team-leading nine blocked shots last season.

“Sherry’s very strong in the low post and is also strong from the three-point line,” Thompson said. “In the last couple of weeks, she’s been doing really well for us.”

Right behind Zehner is forward Faith Zabek, who averaged 10.9 points and 5.2 rebounds a game last season. The senior post player was a First Team All-Confer- ence selection last season and also recorded 38 steals and six blocked shots.

“Faith’s an athletic forward,” Thompson said. “I think that Faith has improved a lot in the off-season and we expect a lot out of her this year.”

Thompson also believes senior Megan Reel will be a key scoring threat this season after improving her shot selection during the off-season.

Reel averaged five points and 2.1 re-bounds a game last season. The guard led Oakville in assists with 62, while also recording 37 steals and six blocked shots.

“Megan’s probably our second most athletic player on the team,” Thompson said. “Her shot selection has improved in the off-season, so we’ll expect a lot more out of her this season.”

The Tigers also will expect an increase in scoring from point guard Lindsay De-gonia, who averaged 2.6 points and 1.8 re-bounds a game last season.

A Second-Team All-Conference selection last season, Degonia also recorded 42 assists, 32 steals and one blocked shot.

“This is Lindsay’s third year starting at point guard,” Thompson said. “We’re ex-pecting more scoring out of her this year.”

Thompson also believes that senior guard Rebecca Wooge has improved on her shot selection during the off-season, which should benefit the Tigers this season.

Wooge averaged one point and one re-bound a game last season. She also recorded 17 assists, 12 steals and one blocked shot.

“Rebecca’s now got some experience on the varsity and has improved her shooting from the outside,” Thompson said. “So hopefully that will open things up for us.”

Junior Emma Kriegel should provide a consistent force inside for the Tiger’s as she looks to improve on her three points and 2.3 rebounds a game last season. The Oakville center also racked up 41 assists, 32 steals and two blocked shots.

“Emma’s a very strong athlete,” Thomp-son said. “She’s really improved in the past few weeks and has gained a lot of confidence in her jump shot and ball handling skills.”

The Tigers are in action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when they travel to Hazelwood Central for a non-conference meeting with the Hawks.

“They have a pretty strong group of in-side players there (at Hazelwood Central),” Thompson said. “It should be a pretty in-teresting game.”