It could be easy for Free State High girls’ basketball coach Bryan Duncan to forget last season.

The Firebirds’ youth and inexperience showed in a 4-17 record during Duncan’s debut campaign.

But instead of trying to erase the past, Duncan said he and his team embraced the lessons they learned in a season of struggles.

“We don’t ignore it by any means,” Duncan said, “but we don’t dwell on it, either.”

That might be key for this season’s older, wiser squad.

“Last year, even though we had two seniors, it felt like we were all young,” senior guard Jenny Gwaltney said.

“We had new ideas coming from the new coaches. We had to all learn a new offense. This year a lot of us already know how things are going to go. The learning curve is a lot higher this year.”

As are the Firebirds’ levels of experience and talent.

While Free State’s leading returning scorer is junior Jamie Stanclift, who averaged 11.9 points per game, Duncan will rely heavily on six seniors and four gifted sophomores.

Seniors Lauren Abney, Kirby Beneventi, Gwaltney, Emilie Humbarger, Kelsey Randall and Nellie Ryan will be the Firebirds’ backbone, while sophomores Kassidi Anderson, Tricia Dunham, Sarah Heider and Banaka Okwuone could provide a big boost.

“We’ve got six seniors on the team who just have a lot more experience and leadership qualities,” Duncan said. “We also have four sophomores who are playing at a very high level of basketball. We really feel like we are building this program in the right direction.”

If Duncan needed proof, he found it during the offseason when members of his squad played in several spirited scrimmages.

“Our girls really want to be successful,” Duncan said. “You really see that in the way they practice, in the way they’re lifting, and most importantly what they’ve done to make themselves better in the offseason.

“Whether that translates into wins or losses, we can’t predict. But we’re definitely a much improved basketball team at this point.”

Yet Gwaltney was quick to point out improvement this season was due after last season’s struggles.

“I think we’re definitely not going to forget last year because we learned a lot, even if our record didn’t show it,” Gwaltney said. “I think we can really start where we left off last year and continue forward, instead of farther back.”

Free State starts its season Thursday at Kansas City Wyandotte.