When the 2024-25 girls basketball season tips off on Nov. 23 in Intercity tournament play, head coach Mr. Dave Feeney’s Ironmen won’t be chasing ghosts.

“We are not last year’s team,” Feeney said—a squad that went 31-4 and 9-1 in Big 12 Conference play.

And they’re not the 2022 team either; the Iron went 31-4 and 7-2 that season.

That’s the message Feeney has driven home since the first day of practice: this team must carve its own identity.

The Iron will debut a new starting lineup on Illinois Wesleyan’s Dennie Bridges Court in the season opener against the Normal West Wildcats in Rayna Powers, Marco Reynolds, Kenna Malinowski, Camry Fisher and A’Meah Lester—and a new mantra: Fear is a liar.

“I don’t want our kids being fearful of trying to live up to somebody else,” Feeney said.

Even before the start of the season, Feeney said, one question had already started to wear on him: “What are you going to do without…?”

Invariably, whoever asked would follow up with names like Olivia Corson, who poured in 590 points last season; or Ali Ince, who posted 66 assists and 44 steals as a senior; or Giana Rawlings, who drained 68 three-pointers in the 2023-24 campaign.

“They’re some really impressive names,” Feeney said. But, while the Ironmen graduated “a lot of talent, a lot of depth,” that doesn’t mean this squad is lacking in that department, he said.

This season, the only question the veteran head coach wants to hear: “What are you going to do with…?”

The answer?

“Play fearless” basketball.

“A big part” of the Iron having a successful season this year, Feeney said, starts with “remov[ing] that fear of failure.”

That fearlessness starts with the players embracing their talents.

“We need Camry Fisher to be Camry Fisher. We need Marco Reynolds to be Marco Reynolds. We need A’Meah Lester to be A’Meah Lester.”

“We need to put each player in their best position to be successful,” Feeney said.

To utilize their strengths, the Iron will adopt a new offensive strategy: playing inside-out.

While last season’s offense was known for up-tempo play and attacking the paint, this season the Iron will play a slower brand of basketball, focusing on shot quality and efficiency.

“Last year,” Feeney said, “we didn’t emphasize a paint touch before we shot.”

This season, getting the ball in the paint, taking more reliable shots, will be a key to the Iron offense.

Reynolds (left) and Powers (right) look to be a significant factor inside for the Iron this season. Photo Courtesy of: Charles Green

Playing inside-out is something the team will prioritize this year, partially, Feeney said, “because Marco is so good in the post and partially because we want those inside-out shots. We shoot a higher percentage when we play that way.”

The strategy has two benefits: allowing the Iron to take advantage of higher-percentage shots in the paint and get better looks from the perimeter.

The new approach will leverage the 6-foot-1 Reynolds’ post play production. In limited time last season, Reynolds shot 49% (35-for-71) in the paint.

Powers will compliment Reynolds inside. At 5-foot-9, Powers is the Iron’s most experienced veteran.

Fourth in minutes played last season, the University of Kentucky soccer commit converted 48% of her shots (41-for-85) while excelling in ball control, ranking third in assists (59) with one of the team’s lowest turnover rates.

Camry Fisher, Feeney said, has been a “great senior leader” for the Iron this offseason, something he only expects to see continue. Photo Courtesy of: Charles Green

An inside-out approach benefits the team’s perimeter shooters as well.

“The defense gets sucked in. Your shooters on the outside get to have their shoulders square to the rim already… it’s an easier shot.”

Malinowski and Fisher, the Iron’s most efficient returning perimeter threats, are poised to take advantage. Malinowski connected on 34 of 109 threes last season, while Fisher shot an impressive 44% (8-for-18) from deep in limited action.

Fisher’s small sample size isn’t a reflection of how good her game is. Last season, Fisher missed more than half the season due to an off-court injury; the 5-foot-8 guard will be pivotal this season, Feeney said, as she is one of the team’s “anchors.”

Lester adds versatility, contributing as both a slasher and shooter. The 5-foot-6 guard shot 37% (23-for-62) from inside and 26% (7-for-27) from beyond the arc in limited minutes.

Malinowski demonstrated her prowess from the perimeter in the final three games of the 2023-24 postseason, shooting 10-for-18. Photo Courtesy of: Charles Green

The Iron “are really versatile,” Feeney said, an asset they’ll use to exploit their matchups. This season, the defining look of the Iron offense will be having no defining look.

While Malinowski’s shooting keeps defenders honest, her 5-foot-10 frame makes her an inside threat as well.

“We have some great length on this year’s team,” Feeney said, in Malinowski and Reynolds.

That length coupled with versatility is something Feeney thinks can result in generating mismatches on the floor.

The Iron won’t rely on their bigs on offense in the traditional sense always: expect to see Reynolds bring the ball upcourt.

“Our bigs handle the ball,” Feeney said, “even in the full court.”

Reynolds’ ability to bring the ball upcourt, Feeney said, will draw opposing bigs into uncomfortable defensive roles and helps to “relieve” defensive pressure.

The Iron, Feeney said, are “really big on cross training.”

While the Iron look to slow the offense down this season, it doesn’t mean the roster lacks speed.

Powers, Malinowski and Lester, Feeney said, are fast. The Iron just might utilize that strength in a different ways this season to take advantage of their opponents.

If the Iron face “a big, slow kid” in the pain, Feeney said, “We put Rayna in … and they can’t guard her.”

Sub in “a smaller athletic kid” to guard Powers?

“Now we put Marco in, and that kid’s in trouble.”

Lester’s all around shooting ability, the Iron’s size and a roster that can play multiple positions means the Iron can keep their opponents out of rhythm and guessing.

“Every kid,” Feeney said, players like Armoni Conner, Emma Harrison, Hayley Michels, Zoey Wilde and Tatum Yokley, “can help you in different ways.”

This Iron offense will feature players rotating in and out of positions, on and off the floor in an effort to create matchup headaches for the other team.

The team chemistry begins with the Iron’s senior class, a group that Feeney thinks can continue to build on the program’s traditions. Photo Courtesy of: Charles Green

That strategy doesn’t work without unselfish players.

Team chemistry will be essential to the team’s offensive strategy to be successful this year.

That isn’t something the coach is worried about.

It’s one of the Iron’s strengths this season, the coach said.

“The kids are all bought in,” Feeney said, bought into the idea “that we’re going to have to do this together.”

This summer, Feeney said, he started to see that the roster’s “really in it for each other.”

On this team, “There’s that collective will,” Feeney said, “I think they want to prove something.”

That will make success “even more fun,” the coach said, because “every win is going to feel like we did it truly together.”

That chemistry, Feeney hopes, carries over into the season, translating into ball movement, setting screens—and “ridiculously unselfish” basketball.

While A’Meah Lester is an all-around player, defense is where she shone last season. Photo Courtsey of: Charles Green

On defense, the Iron will take a more calculated approach this season.

Last year’s strategy relied on creating “32 minutes of chaos,” Feeney said, using their speed to get opponents out of their system, running around scrambling, pressuring them into mistakes.

In 2024 expect the Iron to be “much more selective about when we pressure.”

Powers leads the team’s defensive efforts, averaging 2.6 steals per game last season and leading the team in defensive boards (108).

The senior, Feeney said, can do anything on defense. She can “guard one through five” and was second in deflections with 61.

Lester’s biggest strength is her defensive play. In the backcourt, the scrappy senior is a nuisance.

In 467 minutes of action, Lester recorded 36 steals, 43 deflections and five blocks. She rounded out the stat sheet with 37 defensive rebounds and four charges, a team-high.

Reynolds and Malinowski, with their height and length, anchor the paint. Reynolds tied for a team-high 14 blocks last season, adding 64 defensive rebounds and 30 deflections.

Malinowski, Feeney said, has earned herself the nickname the “the long arm of the law” for her defensive ability, something she showed glimpses of in 28 games and 338 minutes of time. As a junior, Malinowski posted 25 deflections, 17 steals and two blocks while pulling in 32 defensive rebounds.

Those are numbers Feeney only expects to see the senior improve on.

This season, the Iron will rely on a combination of versatility, unselfish play and strategic adaptability to carve their own identity.

“Even though we just lost a really talented senior class,” Feeney said, a class that had “unicorns” like Olivia Corson, Ali Ince and Gianna Rawlings, this is nothing new for the Iron.

“We said the same thing two years ago,” Feeney said, “‘we lost a talented senior class.’ We said the same thing three years ago, ‘we have a really good senior class.’”

This year, Feeney said, “we have a lot of good seniors.” Seniors who are more than capable of building on “an unbelievable foundation” that’s been laid “the last few years.”

The team’s first test will be Saturday at 5:30 p.m. when the Iron take on the Normal West Wildcats in the first contest of the Intercity tournament.