EXPRESS FILE PHOTO Peyton Dincher returns for Jersey Shore this year.

It’s safe to say expectations are high for the Jersey Shore girls basketball team heading into the 2024-25 season.

After a tough start to the 2020s, which saw the Bulldogs win just three games through the entire 2020-21 season, with the help of a revitalized cast, they would start to turn over a new leaf. Shore would turn three wins into 13 the following season and its rise would carry forward from there.

Though that coveted District 4 Class AAAA title has evaded it in back-to-back seasons, with powerhouse Central Columbia serving as a lofty obstacle, the Bulldogs have found other ways to make history, clinching back-to-back state tournament appearances the past two seasons and earning its first state win in over 20 years in 2023.

They showed progress in their last matchup against the Blue Jays and while last year’s first round exit from the state tournament was disappointing, there are plenty of reasons why the team can expect to have a shot at building on the latest years’ success.

Though Jersey Shore lost two key seniors from last year’s squad in Jocelyn McCracken and Celia Shemory, it maintains much of the core that’s ignited this recent surge.

Senior Peyton Dincher is the biggest of those returners. A two-time first-team all-state selection, the Bulldog in on track to break the program record for points scored in a career and is looking to build off back-to-back seasons where she’s scored over 20 points per game.

So far, she’s on track to do so, putting up 25 in the team’s opener against Warrior Run last Tuesday. One of the Le Moyne commit’s biggest goals for the season is helping the Bulldogs take home a district title before she graduates.

“This season, I’m hoping that we can go down as the best team and that we can get the job done this year,” said Dincher at her signing day in November. “I just want to leave on a good note as district champs.”

“It’s been a great four years so far and I can’t thank the coaching staff enough, Mike Schall and coach Averie Hess, because they really built this program back up and I’m really thankful for that,” she added when discussing the last few seasons.

Alongside Dincher, the team returns plenty of experience.

Seniors Cailyn Schall and Sophia Stover come off seasons where they finished as the team’s third and fifth leading scorers respectively, with Schall leading the team with 3.6 assists per game and the pair combining for 3.6 steals per game.

In the team’s 76-12 win over Warrior Run on Tuesday, Schall and Stover stepped in and delivered alongside Dincher, posting 16 and 14-point outings respectively. Junior Avery DePasqua also reached double figures with 12 and hit on two treys, and additional Bulldogs, such as senior Hannah Heaton, sophomore Kylie Schall and freshman Gracelyn Frantz, can be expected to make an impact.

Off the heels of repeat HAC-I titles and looking for its first District 4 Class AAAA one in the 20th century, the stakes are high as the program prepares to depart with one of its brightest stars in its history. But whatever happens in the coming months, it’s been an incredible turnaround so far.

Coach: Mike Schall

Assistants: Averie Hess, Patty Hess, Josh Smith

Last year: 19-8 (9-1 HAC-I)

Roster: Seniors – Peyton Dincher (1); Sophia Stover (2); Cailyn Schall (12); Hannah Heaton (13). Juniors – Avery DePasqua (10). Sophomores – Taylor Heaton (3); Azelyn Dincher (4); Kylie Schall (15); Lillian Bowers (23). Freshmen – Azlyn Guerrero (5); Ava Smith (11); Jessalyn Milbrand (14); Ryleigh Eck (20); Bella Hensler (21); Gracelyn Frantz (22); Emma Dady (25).