Schools in the Cascade Conference are going to be in for a big surprise this season when they step on the court to face the Coupeville High School girls basketball team.

Under second-year head coach Blake Severns, the Wolves will have a new look for 2008-09.

“Last year we were a big and strong team that could pound the ball inside, but this year we are going to rely on our quickness,” Severns said.

Graduation and injuries have taken a toll on the team, but Severns said he has a number of good players returning along with some new faces, and the Wolves are shooting for a return trip to the district tournament.

Last year Coupeville finished 7-7 in the conference and 12-12 overall, advancing to the Tri-District as the Cascade Conference number-three seed.

The Wolves defeated Friday Harbor in a sub-district game and then earned a big victory over Cascade Conference rival King’s High School in a loser-out game at the district tournament.

However, Vashon Island proved to be too much for Coupeville in the Tri-District’s opening round and the Wolves lost 56-46, and were eliminated from competition.

Kassie Lawson and Jessy Caselden return for their senior year of play, and are joined by junior point guard Megan Smith, who was the team’s leading scorer and court general last year.

Junior Courtney Boyd, who played a lot of varsity minutes last season, is also returning.

New faces on the varsity roster include senior foreign exchange student Linde Maertens, who was an outstanding player on the volleyball team, and senior Mandi Murdy.

“Linde has never played basketball before but she is tall and a very good athlete, and Mandi is out for the basketball team for the first time,” Severns said.

Coupeville has several girls that suited up for varsity competition last year including Daisy Kent and Marie Hesselgrave who are in contention to make the team, along with a really good group of younger players.

“Right now, I have lot of question marks about who will be my varsity players and that’s something we have to figure out quickly,” Severns said. “We had six freshmen that we took to the team camp this summer and they all worked hard and did a good job playing against some top-notch competition.”

As in past seasons, Archbishop Murphy will have one of the top teams in the league, returning all of their starting players off last year’s championship squad.

“They should be at the top of the list along with King’s,” Severns said. “After that, I think everybody in the Cascader Conference is about equal and it will be who wants it the most on a particular night.”

Severns said he is excited about the upcoming season and so are the girls.

“We are going to have a little fun and work a little harder than we did last year,” he said. “We’ll be a very different team this season.”

Coupeville opens the season Tuesday, Dec. 2, hosting Concrete.

The varsity game begins at 7 p.m.