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The Urbana High boys basketball team has some rebuilding to do, but not that much.

Key returns are in the backcourt, with senior guards Kevin Sowers and Frankie Jarboe. Sowers, a 6-footer, is a threat from the point.

Last season, he averaged 12.4 points, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals. Jarboe (5-10) sank 37 3-pointers, good for 41.1% accuracy.

Senior Alex Crawford (6-5) is available at center after earning some starts as a junior. Junior Jude Merkel (6-1) is a new addition to the guard corps. And freshman Thomas Utt (6-2) keeps a familiar name in the forward spot, following a tradition of his older brother Lex Utt, who's now playing football at Lehigh University.

Urbana Head coach Terry Connolly said that the team's sixth-man will be situational to the game, rotating between junior guard Joe Atmonavage (5-7), sophomore guard Matt Lane (5-10), and senior forward Mark Barrett (6-3).

"We've got a deep roster, and we're going to try and work everyone in," Connolly said.

The Hawks have another four seniors in bench support – forwards Kyle Thomas (6-3) and Jesse Heon (6-2), and guards Dylan Christoff (5-7) and Dylan Farias (6-1).

Junior guards Derek Macierowski (5-7) and Aaron Bing (5-10) and junior center Nick Twilley (6-5) are also in reserve.

Hawks girls still have depth

After last year's shuffling through 11 different starting lineups – on purpose – the Urbana High girls basketball team has plenty of returning starters to pick from this year.

Among the top slew of returnees is junior Kristen Juenger (6-0), who averaged 7.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a game last year. She'll move over to the center for the start of the year, while junior Mari Kordell (5-7) is back at the point guard spot, where she averaged 3.4 assists and 8.8 points.

Sophomore Cara Mason (5-8) is at the shooting guard, where she will take over for Ashleigh Fossett, now a freshman shooting guard at Allegany Community College.

Senior Veronica Krivos (6-0) is the power forward and senior Becca Himes (6-0) is at the power forward slot.

Head coach Chris Krivos noted that the team doesn't have as much top-level depth as last year, with a full 10 starter-level players, but it could be an improvement.

"We won't be quite as interchangeable as we were last year," Krivos said.

"But we'll still be able to mix things up and put in a whole new five."

Some of the moving parts off the bench include senior guard Alex Cummings (5-8), who started some last year, or sophomore guard Peyton Carper (5-9), who led last year's junior varsity team. Sammi Abernethy, a 6-0 freshman post, will also see some playing time.

Junior Alexis Perno (5-7) adds depth to the backcourt, while sophomores Anna Cholewczynski (5-9) and Ausinette Rodriguez (5-10) and junior Grace Lillo (5-10) are in the frontcourt.