The Ryan Lady Raiders are done taking their lumps.

After two fruitless years in Class 5A and an early playoff exit last year with a young team, Ryan is no longer aiming for just the playoffs, but the District 5-4A championship.

“I have two senior guards that were on the team last year,” said Ryan head coach Monesha Allen. “For them, it [making the playoffs last year] definitely helped. It just carries over with their intensity and leadership. Years prior to that, we were 5A and it was obviously tough and we weren’t getting in there.”

Ryan returns one of the most athletic backcourts in the district. Seniors Jacque Dean and Miatta Williams lead a core of guards that also features Emily Paramore and Alex Ray – all who have varsity experience and gained a lot from Ryan’s playoff berth last season.

“We have a lot of great guards,” Allen said. “We’re hoping our guard game will pretty much carry us throughout the season. I have a lot of expectations. I just expect a lot out of my guards.”

Ryan finished third in District 5-4A in 2006-07, but the Lady Raiders were bounced in bi-district, 69-43, by Saginaw Boswell.

With all the talent and experience at guard, Ryan will look to play a more up-tempo game. Allen wants to utilize the speed and athleticism of Dean and Williams to get up and down the court offensively, and put pressure on the ball defensively.

“We’re wanting to put a lot of pressure on the ball and transition,” Allen said. “We want to shoot a lot of layups. That’s the idea. It may not happen. There will be some games where we have a lot of transition play and some games we’ll have to set up in a half-court set. It just depends on the caliber of team we play.”

While Ryan has more than it needs on the perimeter, it is very inexperienced inside. Ryan didn’t return a post player and will rely on sophomore post Domineak Darrough to patrol the paint.

Allen said Darrough has plenty of talent, but needs more work, as she was not on the varsity team last year.

“She has some great hands,” Allen said. “She’s just young and it’s pretty much the six inches between those ears. I think she’ll get there.”

While Ryan’s guards will carry the load early, Allen hopes to get Darrough and forwards Alex Ray, Meghan Forest and Kelsey Guertler integrated enough to give the Lady Raiders some versatility.

Allen said she doesn’t change her system too much, but tweaks it to fit her players. Darrough’s emergence would be cause for tweaking.

“Once the guards get rolling, it will increase the level of play for the posts we do have,” Allen said. “It will bring them up to par with the rest of the team. I talk about it all the time in practice and my post players know that. It’s just a matter of having a young post player. She needs all the help and the encouragement she can get. She has the talent. It’s just a matter of confidence.”

JEFF ANDREWS can be reached at 940-566-6873. His e-mail address is jandrews@dentonrc.com.