Practice begins Monday for high school girls basketball teams across the state. Area teams looking for repeat trips to the IHSAA State Finals are 2007-08 Class 4A champion Carmel, 3A runner-up Bishop Chatard, 2A champion Heritage Christian and Class A runner-up University.

But when new Chatard coach Bill Silvey says he's not making promises about this year's team, it's easy to understand why. The Trojans graduated five seniors who had been major contributors to a team that lost 80 percent of its offensive production.

"We're going to be a better team at the end of the season than we are at the beginning," said Silvey, the replacement for Kevin Sweeney, who resigned at the end of last season to spend more time with his family.

The Trojans open at Avon on Nov. 15.