Last year started slowly for the Talawanda girls basketball team, but the Braves finished strong with a pair of seven-game winning streaks and a district championship, its first since 1988.

Adjusting to a new coaching staff may have contributed to the early-season woes, but four of the five starters are back, the coaches return and the Braves are looking forward to the 2012-13 season.

Tip-off is Saturday evening in a home game in the new Talawanda High School gymnasium. They open at 7:30 p.m. against Milford and then will host Reading next Thursday at the same time.

“We opened against (Milford) last year and lost by 20,” second-year head coach Kim Richter said. “I’m confident the girls can do better.”

The Braves had a rough transition a year ago with the coaching change and stood at 4-4 after eight games. Then they reeled off seven straight wins before taking their second loss to Winton Woods. After that, they had another seven-game win streak until their season-ending tournament loss to Chaminade-Julienne.

They finished 18-6 and were 12-2 in the Fort Ancient Valley Conference West Division, good for second place behind Winton Woods.

Richter said she finds the adjustment to the start of practice and opening the new season easier than a year ago.

“This is nice because we were new last year. Coach (Dan) Purcell and I were new to them and they were new to us, but we are steps ahead of where we were last year,” Richter said. ”We are definitely in a better place. The team knows what to expect.”

Caitlyn Calhoun was one of five seniors on last year’s team and is the only starter from the final game who is not back this year.

Expected to start Saturday for the Braves are senior guards Brilyn Webb and Bristyl Webb, juniors Ana Richter at forward and Megan Richardson at guard, and sophomore center Darby Glaab.

Two players off the bench who are likely to see considerable playing time are junior guard Alli Yeager and freshman center Sarah Beth Richer.

Richter said she expects this year’s players to take up the slack from the loss of Calhoun.

“Caitlyn was an inside force but Darby and Sarah Beth will be an inside force, too,” she said. “We have as much talent as we had last year, but it is not just about talent. If they stay together, we can do great things. If everybody performs their role on the team, we should do well.”

Richter said the change to the new Southwest Ohio Conference from the now-defunct FAVC will have little effect.

“We only lost to Winton Woods in the conference last year,” she said. “This year, Winton Woods is out, but Wilmington is in and they should be good. It does not feel like a new league. We just switched a couple teams.”

Talawanda will play in a new gym with the opening of the new high school building and Richter said she hopes people will come to see the team play in the new facility.

“I tell the girls to take care of the new facilities. With the kids only, it would be deserving if a lot of people came out to watch, but (they can come) also because of the facilities,” the coach said. “The girls worked hard over the summer. It makes the team a little better team. The players did some good things. Some of them played AAU and got better.”

Richter said the team took part in the Pickerington Showcase this past weekend, playing five quarters against some really good teams.

“I encourage the community to come out and watch the girls. They will be pleasantly surprised by the talent,” Richter said, adding that talent is not enough and she wants to emphasize that to her team. “The most important thing is unity and teamwork. That’s the number one goal. I tell the girls a quote, and I’m not sure who it’s from, but it is, ‘It’s amazing what can be accomplished when you don’t care who gets the credit.’ I emphasize that with the girls.”