Three returners from last year’s starting lineup in the Region IX Championship Game spearhead the Northwest College women’s basketball team which opens its season in Utah this weekend.

“It’s nice having some kids that just understand me and understand the long-range vision of everything and know what to expect,” coach Cody Helenbolt said. “It’s been really helpful and it’s made it a lot easier.”

Two of those returning starters are a duo from Mountain View, as leading scorer McKinlee Covolo, as well as fourth leading scorer and leading rebounder Addison Barners (formerly Hickey) make their way back to Powell.

They are joined by Isabella Williams, who was top three in points, rebounds and assists last year. She makes her way back to Powell for her sophomore season from Kadoka, South Dakota.

Another returning Trapper is Faythe Stauffer from Riverton, Utah, who suffered an injury early in the year and was unable to play before redshirting, but Helenbolt feels she can make a huge impact on the team this season.

“It’s tough being injured for a whole basketball season, and watching her go through that and then still coming back and getting herself to the point where she’s ready to play again is exciting for me,” Helenbolt said. “I like a story of a kid persevering through that, the returners and especially her [I’m excited for] just because she didn’t get to play last year.”

Joining those four are a whole host of freshmen, including a number from Wyoming in Powell’s Coy Erickson, Southeast’s Kaycee Kosmicki and Pinedale’s Erica Wilson. Sundance’s Jaylin Mills and Tongue River’s Chaney Reish will join the team at the conclusion of the volleyball season.

“Community college is something I think that we probably believe in here at Northwest, maybe more than some others. So we’re always going to want to have some Wyoming kids on the team, and they’ve been good for us. They’ve been some of our better players, and we’re always going to look to recruit locally as much as we can,” Helenbolt said.

Additional freshmen recruits from around the United States include Peyton Schiltz (Arizona), Izzy Wyaskett (Utah), Semaj Williams (Washington) and Rachel McBride (Utah).

International recruits joining Northwest both come from Spain, as Martina Vargas joins the Trappers from the Canary Islands and Noa Romero joins from Barcelona.

One transfer joins Northwest, as Kysa Shippen transferred to the Trappers from Snow College but is originally from Idaho Falls, Idaho.

With all of those new faces, Helenbolt feels they have been able to get up to speed quickly alongside the returners.

“I would say the strength of our team this year is that there’s not a lot of drop off. We’re eventually going to have 16, but the 14 that I’ve seen so far, any given day it can be pretty even. That sometimes can be challenging as a coach, but ultimately all you want to have is enough depth where you can withstand if things don’t go according to plan,” Helenbolt said. “I definitely think we’re in a good position this year to be able to do that. We’re really interchangeable, and that’s a credit to these freshmen. They’ve come in and they’ve been able to get up to speed and challenge my returners pretty quickly, that’s a good sign.”

Northwest is coming off a Region IX Championship Game appearance a year ago, with Helenbolt hoping the Trappers can find success once again this season despite the unpredictable nature of junior college basketball.

“Each year is kind of its own. You like to have that tradition. It’s nice to have that to kind of look back on and say, if you can do the things I’m asking you to do, you’re going to be successful. And to have that expectation of success,” Helenbolt said. “Each year is so unpredictable, until we really get out there and kind of see our competition, it’s going to be tough to know too much at this point.”

Northwest starts its season with five consecutive games on the road, starting this weekend with a pair of games in Richfield, Utah.

The Trappers take on Utah State University Eastern at 3 p.m. on Friday, and host Snow College at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Snow College will be an early test as the Badgers were just outside the top 25, receiving votes in the NJCAA preseason poll.

“At the beginning of the year you’re just trying to be as competitive as you can be. It’s not going to be the end of year result, not everything’s going to go perfectly according to plan,” Helenbolt said. “Being able to bounce back and not get too high or too low and be able to just be consistent in our effort is really the goal.”