Any time you return three all-star caliber players to a basketball team, that team should expect to be successful.

That’s where the Greencastle-Antrim girls stand on the brink of the season, with Mia Libby, Lauren Pool and Haley Noblit returning to form the backbone of the team.

Lauren Pool

“All three of them, they do what they do well, and I think they are all good enough to be on the Colonial first team,” Blue Devil coach Mike Rhine said.

G-A opens its season Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Waynesboro in the first game of the Franklin County Tip-Off Tournament, facing off against rival James Buchanan.

Libby is a returning Mid Penn Colonial first-team all-star. The 5-foot-1 junior whirling dervish was all over the stat sheet last year, averaging 11.6 points, 5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.7 steals per game.

Noblit, a 5-2 sophomore point guard who made second team, averaged 8.6 points and 2.7 steals per game, while Pool, a 5-9 senior, contributed 8.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

What the Blue Devils do not have is Sayge Wilhide, who drilled 61 3-pointers a year ago when Greencastle went 13-4.

Rhine said, “Sayge carried us in a lot of games last year. We do have shooters, but not like her, and we’ve been working on that since the summer. We want to run and shoot, but we have to be smart about it. I think we can score, but we need to be more efficient and we can’t give the ball away — I’d rather have a missed shot than a turnover with the ball still in play. Everybody needs to work together to find their roles as we figure out the best way for our offense to work.”

Mia Libby

The other two G-A starters will come from a group of four players, depending on who is playing well and who the opponent is. They consist of 5-7 junior Rylee Henson (1.2 ppg last year), 5-8 sophomore Ainslee Swidell (2.1 ppg), 5-7 sophomore Aubrey Smith and 5-7 freshman Shaina Overcash.

“I’m confident with any of the four,” Rhine said.

Kiersten Britner (5-7, sr., 1.-0 ppg) and Meadow Gambacurta (5-6, fr.) also expect to get playing time.

With the speed and quickness of Libby and Noblit at guard, the Blue Devils will try to keep the pressure on opponents when playing defense.

“We want to create chaos without fouling on defense,” Rhine said. “With the athletes we have, they never seem to get tired. But we’re not big, so we will need to do a good job of boxing out for rebounds. I think we’ll be an exciting team … we’ll play fast and quick.”

Greencastle was 11-3 in the Colonial last year, but Rhine believes the opponents have improved.

“I mean, we could win them all, but we could also be .500,” he said. “I think our division has been looked down upon before, but I don’t think it will be this year.”

In addition to the FC Tip-Off this weekend, Greencastle will face Liberty of Sykesville, Md. in the PA vs. MD Shootout showcase event at Gettysburg on Dec. 18 at 5:30.