Photos byIRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT-Above, Britney Hanley, left, and Lyndsay Bergus, far right, both work on their jump shots while Melody Colliatie, center, looks on. Top right, Kaitlynn Hamilton protects the ball while Brittany Cabriales applies the defense. After taking the past two years off from coaching due to the birth of her two children, Shannon Madsen is back at Simi Valley to help guide the Pioneer girls' basketball team.

This season Madsen returns to her alma mater to begin her first season as head coach at SVHS. Madsen, who graduated as a Pioneer in 1997, is glad to be back coaching after a short layoff.

"I had worked with the old coach, Dave Murphy," Madsen said. "When he stepped down I let people know I was interested in the job. I'm very excited to be back coaching, especially to come back to Simi Valley. It's always been a dream to come back here and continue the great tradition here at this school. I missed coaching and seeing the girls while I was away."

Before Madsen left for two years, she was an assistant coach for the Pioneers. She said it's nice to see how much some of the freshmen and sophomores from that era have developed into juniors and seniors.

"It's been great to see how much some of the players have improved since I was last here," Madsen said. "They have really matured into some good ball players."

Although Madsen has some faces familiar to her on the team, the majority of the Pioneers are newcomers.

Simi Valley's top scorer and rebounder from a year ago, Brittany Ausplund, has graduated. There are only three seniors on the team-Janelle Aquino, Amanda Fernandez and Kaitlynn Hamilton.

Aquino will be a co-captain this season after averaging 3.5 points, 2.4 assists and two steals per game last year.

"It's too early to tell who individually stands out on this team, but I am looking for the seniors to provide leadership this year," Madsen said.

While SVHS is short on seniors, they have plenty of sophomores, making this team a potential threat in the coming years.

The six sophomores are led by co-captain Britney Hanley, who returns for her second season as a Pioneer after averaging 3.5 points per game last year.

Yasmin Sharawy also returns to the team for her second season after averaging 2.3 points per game. Other sophomores who should contribute are Brianna Rimmer, Lyndsay Bergus, Breanne Metcalf and Katie Musgrove.

Top juniors on the team include co-captain Meaghan Goodenough and Brittany Cabriales.

Melody Colliatie is the lone freshman on the varsity squad. Goodenough averaged 4.5 points and 2.6 assists and steals per game in 2005-06.

So far, the young team likes working with Madsen, and they are looking to improve on a 7-7 Marmonte League record from a year ago.

"I like having her this season as a coach," Hanley said. "She's a lot more fun, and we have a positive attitude this year because of her. I think she does a great job conditioning us, and she even scrimmages with us sometimes. I like that."

Even though it is early in the season, Hanson believes her team is very well balanced. The Pioneers beat Oak Park last week 5030, but there is still room for improvement with the team's record currently at 1-3.

"We're going to have to take this season game by game," Madsen said. "We are a very young team, but we are also very quick. Since we aren't a very big team, we need to do a good job this year of screening out.

"I think overall we are gelling together as a team very good. This should be an exciting season for the girls and myself. We have a lot of talent but a lot of young talent," she said.

The players agree with Madsen that they have something to prove this year.

"As a team, we are very young, but we have very good chemistry," Goodenough said. "I think we are better this year than a lot of teams expect, and we are just going to go out there and prove that we are here and competitive, and we plan on being so for a while."