Staff file photo / Preston Byers. LaBrae’s Angel Scruggs (23) pulls up for a jump shot during the Vikings’ Division VI sectional semifinal win over Jeromesville Hillsdale on Feb. 12 in Leavittsburg.

If the underdog label gets slapped on LaBrae this season, coach Mandy Rowe isn’t going to be upset. In fact, she would prefer it. Coming off the heels of a 19-7 season that ended just four points shy of a district crown, and returning all but two players however, it’s going to be hard to look past the Vikings this season.

“I feel like we’ve always been an underdog. I’m not sure we will be considered an underdog this year. I don’t know, but I would rather be an underdog,” Rowe said. “I like being the underdog. Take some pressure off. I don’t want them to feel pressure this year. We’re a veteran group, and I don’t want them to feel the pressure that if they’re not perfect, that it’s a failure.”

Even with a group that has the experience the Vikings have – LaBrae returns four of its starting five, including senior Ella Kuszmaul and junior Mariah Jones who missed most of the season to injury – mistakes are bound to happen, and that’s something they have to expect and work through.

This season is about building for the tournament. Adversity is expected, but how they respond to it is the key.

“There are going to be mistakes, but we’ve got to work through them still. There might be different mistakes than last year. And that’s the beauty of coaching. Nothing’s ever the same. Even though we have all these girls back, we might have some things that we are like, ‘Oh, this needs some major attention,’ or we need to work on this now. Things that we thought maybe we weren’t going to have to work on.”

That being said, the Vikings have a good foundation

Junior duo Riley Rowe and Angel Scruggs return to the team after averaging 10.2 points-per-game each. Rowe also averaged 5.5 rebounds-per-game last season.

In her freshman and sophomore seasons, Kuszmaul led the team in scoring. She’ll look to be a major player in her senior season.

Expect sophomore Ally Magoulick, junior Brielle Stout, and seniors Kendra Young, Mia Sloan, and Makayla Scruggs to also be impact players for the Vikings this year.

Last year was a learning experience for LaBrae that has set them up for success this season.

“The experience we had last year (was so important,” Rowe said. “We were 19-7, and some girls had to step up, that maybe we weren’t thinking were going to step up. But with the injuries that we had, we were able to battle through and push. We got to the district championship had the Rootstown Rovers beat it for three-and-a-half quarters.

“I just think we compete. I don’t think we back down from anybody. And I just want to keep improving and competing and not just thinking, ‘Oh, this is going to be easy, because it’s still going to be tough.'”

Losing Kuszmaul and Jones early last season made the Vikings reconfigure its lineup. Different personnel led to a different game plan, more focused on defense.

The change worked for LaBrae, so don’t be surprised if the Vikings keep the pressure up defensively.

“We had to figure out (what to do without Kuszmaul and Jones, and) we just went with heavy defense and generated offense through our aggressive defense,” Rowe said. “That’s what we’re going with now. … Some other girls had to really step up last year, so now we have more experience than what I thought we would have. There is a silver lining to it, but it’s great to have everyone back. We can sub more frequently, so we can pressure more and not have to worry as much about being in foul trouble or getting tired. We can pressure up a lot.”

Finishing on the doorstep of a district championship inspired the Vikings to beef their schedule up. Highlights include Poland, league matches against Crestview and Garfield, and the regular season finale against a Mogadore team fresh off a state final four appearance.

“We have a really tough non-league schedule, just because I think it prepares us so much for the tournament,” Rowe said.