There's not a 6-footer on the roster. In fact, there's not a Lady Miner who even stands as tall as 5 feet, 11 inches.

But that hasn't stopped Nevada Union from banging the boards this season, averaging 29.4 rebounds per game as the Lady Miners are off to a 5-3 start heading into tonight's road trip to Laguna Creek.

“The main concern is that we just don't have any height. It's the same thing year after year,” said NU coach John McDaniel, whose 2009-10 roster was also vertically challenged. “We've got to do it by getting position and boxing out. We're not a team that can jump over people, so we've got to get position.”

Nevada Union might be without height inside, but the Lady Miners are not without a presence in the paint. Cheyenne Toney, a 5-9 junior forward, averaged double figures in rebounding at the junior varsity level last year and has grabbed 4.4 boards per game so far this season.

But NU's top rebounder has so far been senior captain Jennie Carroll, a smooth shooting southpaw who has brought down 7.5 rebounds per game, while also leading the Lady Miners in scoring at 11.8 points and 3.5 steals per contest.

Junior guard Lindsey DeMatteis, another returning starter from the '09-10 campaign, is scoring at an 11.5 points per game clip and is shooting an impressive 63 percent from the floor, including 7-of-13 beyond the 3-point arc. Alyssa Rodriguez, a senior guard, averages 6.3 points and has hit 10 of 27 3-point attempts so far this season.

McDaniel said although NU is deep at the guard spot and has a solid starting frontcourt, the Miners aren't deep in the post, which was made clear in a 61-56 loss to Inderkum in the Elk Grove Cartwright Tournament on Dec. 2.

“We had a 14-point lead, but then Jennie got her third foul and Cheyenne had her fourth,” McDaniel said. “That lead evaporated pretty fast. … We just can't afford to have them get into foul trouble.”

The Lady Miners, who finished fourth in the Sierra Foothill League last year, know they'll have a tall task in trying to unseat defending champion Del Oro, already off to a 5-0 start this season. Woodcreek also has had a strong start at 6-2 in December, but the rest of the league has struggled in the early going, as Rocklin (3-5), Roseville (2-9) and Granite Bay (0-6) are all playing under .500 ball so far.

But McDaniel still expects SFL opponents to present problems night in and night out once January rolls around.

“We tell them to play every minute of every game like it's the league championship,” he said.

NU's first step toward an actual league championship comes Jan. 14 at Granite Bay. Lady Miner fans, however, can get a glimpse of what's to come on Saturday night at Ali Gymnasium, when NU hosts Armijo in a nonleague matchup.

Bear River

Bolstered by a trio of seniors in the backcourt, and a recent addition in the paint, Bear River's Lady Bruins have sped off to a 5-1 start and look ready to make a run at their first Pioneer Valley League championship since 2006 — also the same year as Bear River's last section title.

Seniors Lindsey Harter, Jenn Meylor and Kelsey Uno give coach Jeff Bickmore plenty of experience, along with some sharp shooting and tough defense between the three.

Harter has led the Lady Bruins in scoring at 14.0 points per game, along with 3.2 assists, while Uno has had the hot hand beyond the 3-point arc with 22-of-47 shooting for her 13.2 ppg. average.

“Lindsey has got a lot of confidence out there,” said Bickmore. “She has just realized that she has made a lot of improvement, especially in her offensive game.

“Kelsey was struggling in practice, so it's been big to have her shoot as well as she did early on.”

Meylor, who has recently been hampered by an ankle injury and illness, is scoring at 6.4 points and 5.2 steals per game and has developed into Bickmore's best option on the defensive end.

“She has stepped up on defense and has become our stopper,” Bickmore said, noting that Meylor matched up with Nevada Wolf Pack recruit Emily Burns of Galena High (Reno) and held her to nine points in a 30-26 Bear River win in the High Sierra Winter Challenge Dec. 9.

Bickmore has gone deep into the bench in the preseason, providing all 10 players with substantial minutes. Sisters Kyanne and Sarah Hagar, who are both back with the varsity for a second season. Sarah Hagar, a sophomore, is averaging 4.7 points, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per outing. Kyanne, a senior, has provided spot duty in the frontcourt.

Bear River also got a shot in the arm when sophomore Sara Schell joined the team just before the tournament in Reno. A standout volleyball player, Schell's athletic ability has given the Lady Bruins a strong presence in the paint. Although she's not played basketball since her eighth-grade year at Magnolia Intermediate, the 5-foot, 9-inch Schell is averaging 6.8 points and 5.8 rebounds, after posting seasons highs of 11 points and nine board in Bear River's 54-33 win Monday over Roseville out the SFL.

“This is her first time playing varsity basketball. It's her first time playing high school basketball, for that matter, so she's kind of still adjusting,” Bickmore said. “She's getting used to the players and the speed of the game. She's still learning what she should and shouldn't be doing. But we've seen some good things from her.”

Bickmore expects three teams in particular to present some trouble in the Pioneer Valley League, starting with Colfax and Lady Falcon Michelle Walker.

“She's real physical inside and is one of those relentless kids you can't relax on,” Bickmore said. “She'll be a touch matchup for us, for sure.”

Bickmore also said Placer and Center could be contenders for the PVL title, for which Bear River will begin competition on Jan. 19 against Lincoln at McCrory Gym.

Forest Lake Christian

Tom Ritchart takes over at the helm of the Lady Falcon program in 2010-11, and in doing so becomes the fourth coach to lead FLC in four seasons.

Forest Lake Christian has been looking for some stability since 2006 when Steve Kellar, who led the Lady Falcons to a state championship in 2004, stepped down as coach. Since then, Forest Lake has been coached by Ken Holt, Linda Clough and now Ritchart.

Ritchart previously served as an assistant coach to Dave Thomas on FLC's varsity boys staff, while his sons Andrew and Josh Ritchart were leading the Falcons to the best runs in school history — including a section title in 2007.

Now Ritchart will take a turn at coaching his senior daughter, Laura, while taking the reins of a program needing a steady hand.

“My youngest daughter (Sara) is in the sixth grade, so I'm kind of selfishly wanting to build up the program for her, too,” Ritchart said. “But I do enjoy it. I have a lot of fun doing it, seeing girls grow and do things they didn't think they could do.”

Ritchart said he's already seen some growth out of his current crop of Lady Falcons, despite struggling to a 1-7 start to the season. Early on, his main concern was finding someone to take control of the court, but Laura Ritchart and Emily Pearce, a freshman, have begun to show promise in the backcourt.

Now, the Lady Falcons must shift their focus to the boards, where Ritchart says his team is getting beat “two or three to one” each night.

“That's been our biggest emphasis since our last tournament,” he said. “Our biggest issue has been not getting rebounds.”

That's not for a lack of size, however, as both Delaney Carlson and Emily Woodward cut imposing figures in the paint. Woodward, a 6-foot sophomore, offers both size and strength, as well as promise for the future of the program.

“She's drawing a lot of double teams, but she's still learning, too,” Ritchart said. “I think she will be a real strong player for us the next couple of years.”

Woodward and Laura Ritchart are two of only three players returning from the 2009-10 team that finished 15-10 and took third in the Central Valley California League. Both Morghan Pomeroy and Samantha Camacho graduated, but several potential returning players decided not come out this season, including former captain Molly Huusfeldt, a senior who is concentrating on club volleyball, Ritchart said.

“We only have three players returning, so it will take some time,” Ritchart said. “But we're improving and we've played a tough schedule. We had two close games in the Marysville Tournament, but we fell short.

“But we keep making strides, keep improving and keep progressing. The girls are really learning to be more disciplined and run plays. And they're better on defense. Early on, we were getting back-doored and taken advantage of. But I think we've improved substantially on defense.”

If that improvement continues, Ritchart said his Lady Falcons could compete in the CVCL.

“I want to say we're working to be on the top end of it,” he said. “And we'll play to win and probably pull off some nice wins.”

FLC opens CVCL play Jan. 4 at home against Foresthill. But first the Lady Falcons will compete in the Chavez Memorial Tournament at Lincoln High School this weekend.

Contact Sports Editor Brian Hamilton via e-mail at bhamilton@theunion.com or by phone at 477-4240.