The re-entry into the Evergreen 2A Conference will be a new experince for Aberdeen’s girls basketball program — a new head coach, a young roster and a tougher schedule — this winter.

Jeff Niemi, who slides over from the Elma girls basketball program into the head coaching chair at Aberdeen, will be tasked at bringing the Bobcats back to prominence and up to speed with the Class 2A ranks this season.

“When I was a kid and a teenager, Aberdeen girls basketball was cool and very, very good; and, I want to get it back on track,” said Niemi, who was a member of the 2004 Hoquiam boys basketball state championship team and has been an assistant coach at Hoquiam and Aberdeen as well in the past. He is a third grade teacher at Elma Elementary School.

“We’re fairly young overall at junior varsity and varsity,” said Niemi, who also helped coach the Elma Middle School football teams this past fall. “Their coachability is outstanding. We’re going to build a program people want to be a part of. The players here are the ones who will help start that.”

On Nov. 30, Aberdeen will kick off the season at Forks.

The Bobcats (10-10 overall in 2015-16) will bring back four key varsity returners to the team, beginning with senior guards Dani Buckman and Kyra Gallinger. Junior forward Reagan Glanz and senior post Jillian Swor will help lead in the paint, while junior guard Angel Jones will help spearhead the offense.

Glanz is the only returning all-Evergreen 1A League selection, making the team as an honorable mention last season.

Returning to the program after a two-year hiatus, senior Mari Rabung will be asked to bring some of her leadership she showcased with the four-time District IV 2A girls swimming champions onto the basketball court.

Along with Rabung, sophomores Emma Krenz (G), Alex Bruner (F) and Ryder Heikkila (G) will move into varsity spots to provide depth on the bench as newcomers.

“Mari is very skilled for someone who hasn’t realistically picked up a basketball in two years and Angel is a great athlete,” Niemi said. “Dani, Reagan and Kyra bring varsity experience to the team. They know what to expect. Ryder and Alex will be swing players, but will see some varsity time and Emma had a great tryout and practice to get onto the varsity roster.”

Adrianna Roberts will be on the varsity squad full-time after being a swing player last year, while Kate Slyter and Katelyn Dawson will move up from the junior varsity ranks.

“Offensively, we’re going to attack with action, to have a plan for what we’re going to do; we have to be uptempo, because we don’t have the size (to play in the low post),” Niemi said. “Defensively, we’re going to mix it up quite a bit, because of our lack of height.”

Assisting Niemi this season will be Corey Ellis and Samantha Deugan.