The Highland Huskies will be looking to find themselves on the right side of things more often this season in girls’ basketball. After going 12-11 overall and 9-7 in conference play last year, head coach Jody Fink and fans have plenty of reason to be excited that Highland is only going to get better as the new season begins tonight.

The biggest reason for that anticipation is the return of Sarah Burton. The junior averaged 11-and-a-half points, nine rebounds, two assists, 2.5 steals and one blocked shot per game. Leading scorer Abbi Stransky is back for her junior season after averaging almost 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Junior Dani Laughlin also returns after 9.5 points, four rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3.5 steals a game last season. But Fink tells KCII Sports it’s Burton being back that creates a buzz.

“Sarah did well when Abbi had her knee problem last year in the second-to-last game, in the regional first round when she tore her ACL,” Fink says. “We went to Montezuma and the team rallied around her and Sarah did a really good job of elevating her game, and I think she started realizing what she was capable of doing.”

Highland only needs to replace two graduated seniors from last year as they start the new season by taking on Keota this evening at Iowa Valley. The Huskies will also be back in Marengo tomorrow night to face Iowa Valley.