The only thing that hasn't changed for the Bishop Chatard High School girls basketball team is its schemes.

The Trojans lost their three top players -- Anne Boese, Megan Gardner and Caroline Schutzman -- to graduation and coach Kevin Sweeney resigned to spend more time with his family after the program reached the Class 3A state championship game. But Bill Silvey moved over from Park Tudor with a nearly identical uptempo system.

"The terminology is pretty much the same," he said in leading the program to a 1-1 start prior to Monday's game against Metropolitan and playing at rival Cathedral at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. "The fundamentals are the same. It's very minor differences in the things we do. We've had to gear it down a little since those (previous) kids had been together for four years and they really knew each other.

"Now we have new pieces to plug in."

Bishop Chatard has been led by forwards Courtney Crawford, the only returning starter from last season, and Rachael Kimmack, a contributor as a reserve. With point guard Katie Shaughnessy, who stepped in to play a key role during the playoff run last season, they've maintained the team's trademark defensive pressure.

Six-foot-3 sophomore Erica Stahl, a volleyball player, has stepped in effectively despite not having played basketball since grade school and Selina Tillman, with Crawford the only seniors on the team, has moved into the lineup after spending last season on the junior varsity.

"(Playing uptempo) puts a lot of pressure on the defense and is more fun for the kids to play in," Silvey said. "We're just trying to maintain (the program's success) and teach some of these (new) kids (the systems). We're trying to find the next round of players to bring off the bench and keep the defensive pressure at the same level as the first five."