Chisholm’s boys will open the 2009-10 basketball season the same way the Longhorns closed last year’s campaign.

The Longhorns will host Fairview, which eliminated Chisholm 58-46 at last year’s state tournament, in the second half of a 6:30 p.m. girls-boys doubleheader.

“It seems like we just played last week,’’ said Longhorns coach John Boeckman with a chuckle.

Boeckman will start an all-senior veteran lineup — 6-foot-2 forward Dakota Martin (15.0 ppg and 5.9 rpg), 5-10 guard Will Barney (14.8 and 3.0), 6-2 forward Daniel Nault (5.8 and 5.5), 6-0 forward Jason Gillpatrick (3.8 and 2.8) and 6-2 guard Trevor Simmons (9.8 and 2.5).

The Longhorns lost only one starter — Nate Ward — from last season’s 18-9 team. Chisholm is seeking its third straight state tournament trip.

Barney, Boeckman said, has recovered from a broken hand which sidelined him the later part of the football season.

“I’m optimistic,’’ Boeckman said. “Our kids have really been working hard. Hopefully, we can do something.’’

The Longhorns will have good quickness, but Boeckman is concerned about a lack of height. He is looking for depth.

J.T. Lett, Joey Addington, Jon Kiernan and Brandon Gulusha are the top candidates to come off the bench.

Fairview returns only one starter — 6-0 senior guard Matt Rieger— from last year’s 25-5 team that beat Chisholm three times last season.

“I know they will be well-coached and well-prepared,’’ Boeckman said.

Chisholm’s girls will be led by 5-6 senior Allison Randolph, who averaged 12.1 points per game last season. Karlie Reed, a 5-3 senior (5.6 ppg) and Ashlyn Carroll, a 5-8 sophomore also will start.

Shelby Weber, a 5-7 junior; Lauren Lawver, a 6-1 junior; Sam Stubbs, a 5-7 senior; Rachel Barney and Morgan Meek complete the rotation.

“We have a team that can play with five guards, four guards and a post or even three posts,’’ said Chisholm coach Terry Middleton.

“We should be able to match up with anybody. If we want to play an uptempo game, we can. If we want to slow it down and grind out points, we can.’’

Chisholm has had its moments in preseason scrimmages, Middleton said. They have looked “average’’ in others.

“For the most part, I’ve been pretty pleased,’’ Middleton said. “The girls are really working hard. We don’t have to battle some of the things we had last year with this being my second year.’’

Chisholm won both regular season meetings with the Lady Jackets last season, but Fairview won the third-place game at the Wheat Capital Tournament.

“It’s a big rivalry,’’ Middleton said.

Fairview returns three starters — 5-8 guard Madison McGolden (6.3 ppg), 5-9 forward Jamie Dewberry (4.9 ppg) and 5-10 forward Julia Mason (15.9 ppg) from last year’s 17-10 team.

In other county games tonight (girls records listed first):

Lomega (5-0, 3-2) at Drummond (1-2, 1-2) — Drummond’s teams swept Dover Tuesday for their first wins of the season. Jalyn Boedeker is averaging 10 points a game for the girls. Zach Steichen has had back-to-back 11-point games for the boys. Lomega’s girls have had an average victory margin of 39.8 points per game. Kylie Castonguay is averaging 24 points per game. Troy Wilczek is averaging 18.8 points for the boys.

Cherokee (0-0) at Cimarron (1-1, 0-2) — Rachel Williams is averaging 11.5 points a game for the Cimarron girls while Cody Roggow is averaging 14.5 points for the boys.

Cherokee’s boys are making their debut under new coach Matt Guffy. Justin Schanbacher averaged 15 points for the Chiefs last season. The Lady Chiefs were 19-8 last season, including a 47-26 win over Cimarron.



SCHEDULE



Tonight’s area prep basketball schedule.

County — Cherokee at Cimarron, Fairview at Chisholm, Lomega at Drummond

Area — Billings at Medford, Burlington at Aline-Cleo, Mooreland at Gage, Ringwood at Pond Creek-Hunter, Taloga at Freedom