Head coach Ken Grisdale will rely on a core group of eight seniors this season as the Bulldogs aim

Head coach Ken Grisdale will rely on a core group of eight seniors this season as the Bulldogs aim to make another deep run in the postseason. Poland, which finished 18-5 last season, opened its season this week with road games at Lakeview and Louisville. The home opener will be Friday against Struthers.

“We’re excited about how good we can be this season if we play every possession and unselfishly,” said Grisdale, whose team won the All-American Conference Red Tier, a sectional championship and earned district runner-up honors.

“With the eight seniors and good group of juniors, we’re extremely experienced.”

When Poland elected to play an up-tempo style with more pressing three seasons ago, it was this group of seniors that he had in mind.

“That was the way to get them a lot of playing time and rotating guys in and out. We’re staying with the style this year. Canfield is always tough and Howland has a new coach, so we’ll see how things go if we play unselfishly.”

First-year Poland High girls basketball coach Nick Blanch is hoping to bring a positive attitude and some modest goals to a program that has struggled in the paste few years.

His squad is already responding to his approach, beginning the season 4-0, including a come-from-behind victory over South Range.

“The girls have been very receptive to our approach so far,” said Blanch. “You have to believe you can win first or you won’t be successful. We’re trying to increase our team’s self-confidence and get them to keep playing hard, no matter what the scoreboard reads. We’ll take it one day at a time, play until the end and learn from our wins and our losses.”

Poland returns just four letterwinners from last year’s squad, including three seniors. With such a young group, Blanch is hoping to go back to the basics, beginning with the mental approach.

Team goals this season include trying to finish with at least a .500 record and win at least one tournament game.

“We want these seniors to have won a tournament game in their careers,” said Blanch. “Really, we just want to play hard all game. It sounds so simple, but sometimes it can be difficult. But the girls are buying into it so far.”