It's probably safe to say the Granville High School girls basketball team isn't going to sneak up on anybody.

Coming off a 5-17 season, the Blue Aces seemingly came out of nowhere last winter under first-year coach Sue Borchers to share the MSL-Ohio Division title with Newark Catholic. They nearly flipped their record by finishing 16-5 overall while posting a 12-2 mark in the league, and the overall win total was the team's highest since it went 17-6 in 2002-03.

"Last year, we were just trying to prove who we were and that the changes we made were working," said Borchers, whose team opens Friday at home against Fairfield Union. "This year, we're proud to wear a bull's-eye on our back, although I'm sure we'll have to dodge some bullets along the way."

Five seniors departed, but the Blue Aces will lean heavily on returning juniors Kimberly Seidell (point guard), Lacie Buckey (guard) and Rachael Newkirk (post). Newkirk is expected to miss several early games with an ankle injury, however.

Buckey, who has considerable shooting range, is a budding star and averaged a team-high 13.7 points a year ago while earning Division II honorable-mention all-district honors.

She was one of three players in double digits as Granville earned a split with the Green Wave by winning the first-round game 63-57, which was part of an 11-game winning streak.

The seniors are Tori Overholt (guard) and Jessie Lozier (post). A trio of sophomores, including promising post player Ellie Crawford, also look to contribute. The others are guards Taylor Hackett and Hannah Orth. The roster is rounded out by juniors Katie Richardson and Taylor Melick.

The Blue Aces, who won a combined 13 games over three seasons from 2005-08, still are relatively young, though. They also lack size as most of the players fall between 5-foot-5 and 5-8. Moreover, last year's graduates included second-team all-district post Haley Snider (10.2 points per game) and honorable-mention all-district guard Hannah Combe, who was a four-year starter and an emotional sparkplug.

Still, Borchers believes this team will contend for another league title and could make a deeper postseason run. The Blue Aces earned the fifth seed last year and won in the district tournament for a second consecutive season before falling 51-36 in the second round against sixth-seeded Mifflin, which eventually advanced to the regional. Hence, Borchers has improved the non-league schedule by adding perennial stalwarts such as defending MBC-champion Utica (on the road on Jan. 12) and CCL runner-up DeSales (at home on Jan. 27).

"Our goal now is to be a little more prepared for what we might see in the tournament," Borchers said.