FRUITPORT – Better days finally arrived for the Fruitport girls basketball program in the second half of last season, and the Trojans are hoping to keep their momentum going this season.

It all begins on Monday night, when the Trojans will host Montague in their season opener.

At first glance, last season’s 8-16 record does not look impressive, but the outlook is different when you consider that the Trojans started out 0-8. Then they pulled themselves together, went 8-8 the rest of the way, and posted victories in three of their last five games.

Fruitport’s improvement was most obvious in two games against rival Spring Lake. The Trojans lost to the Lakers 70-38 early in the regular season, but then gave them all they could handle in a Division 2 district semifinal game, falling by a tight score of 35-28.

High school sports are all about a constant push for improvement, and last year’s Trojans were a great example.

“In that district game against Spring Lake, if a couple of plays had gone a different way, it might have been a different story, and if we had won that game, I think we would have had a decent shot at a district championship,” said Fruitport head coach Brian Packard.

“We are taking that into this season. We lost some seniors who were big pieces, but we’re also bringing back some key pieces. We have a pretty promising group of girls and we’re pretty excited.”

The Trojans are fortunate to be bringing back their leading scorer and one of the better players in the area, junior Izzy Hansen-Wilbur, who is beginning her third year as a varsity starter. She will again lead the Trojan attack, and will probably be even a little bit better than she was last season, when she averaged around 12 points per game.

“She’s been working on her shooting range a little bit, going a few feet past the three-point line,” Packard said about Hanson-Wilbur. “She’s starting to develop a more well-rounded game.

“She’s always been the fastest girl on the team, and her biggest strength is still getting a steal and racing to the basket. There is not a girl in West Michigan who is going to catch her. I’m not saying she is going to be a high-volume three-point shooter this year – she’s still more comfortable getting to the basket – but when he has the opportunity to shoot she’s more than capable. She is definitely improving.”

The Trojans have two other returning starters who began to show real offensive potential last season, and will be expected to put up some points on a consistent basis this winter.

One is senior Ava Powell, a very strong player who performs very well under the basket on both ends of the court, and can score points from inside or outside.

“She can perform with her back to the basket, but can also do well on the perimeter a little bit,” Packard said. “She was working on her shot over the summer. She’s just a force to be reckoned with in terms of her strength. She’s only 5-foot-7, but it’s hard to move her. We expect her to be a defensive and rebounding machine, and she also has some offensive skill. We are curious to see where she gets her points this year.”

Also back in the starting lineup is junior guard Lily Johnson, who started to get a lot more court time late last season, just as the Trojans started improving, and showed some real promise.

“She can get to the basket and shoot a little bit,” Packard said about Johnson. “She got a lot of minutes toward the end of the season and it was go-time for her, She has some skill and speed, loves the game and puts in the work. We’re looking for her to have a breakout season.”

Fruitport will also be looking for points from a new player with an interesting background.

Senior Ciera Fri has been playing basketball for a long time, but never in an organized setting, according to Coach Packard. As he put it, “she’s more of a street ball kid.” But Fri has displayed some skills that have the Trojans intrigued.

“This year she decided to give it a shot and there are going to be some surprises in her game,” Packard said. “She has the highest vertical jump on the team and she shoots and drives the ball well. There is kind of a buzz whenever she gets the ball in space. She’s been a nice surprise so far. We’re really hoping, between her and Izzy, that we have two high production scorers.”

There are six more players on the roster, most were on the team last year, and many played some significant minutes. They all bring athleticism and different types of skills, and Packard thinks they will provide a lot of important depth and play key roles on the court.

They are junior Kya Tawney (who may be the fifth starter on Monday), junior Kalli Tawney, junior Averie Mathiak, senior Kendall Lee, junior Zoe German and junior Alexa Sweet.