A trio of rugged rebounders, a multi-talented wing and a fleet-footed point guard have all signed letters of intent to play women’s basketball at Lower Columbia College beginning this fall.

Kajaat Squires of Olympia, Chardonnae Mortimer of Seattle’s Franklin High and Eva Everett of Mountain View in Vancouver will fight for rebounds in the paint. Jordane Marxer of Warrenton will battle for points on the wing, and Ruby Albright of Hudson’s Bay brings her ball control and speed to the Lady Devils’ backcourt.

The five newcomers join incoming guard Mollee Schwegler of Rainier, returning point guard Marla Olstedt, wings Brittany Welch, Jade Haas and Sadie Salte, and center Cassie Koering on the LCC roster.

Squires didn’t play her senior season after suffering from shin splints which turned into stress fractures.

“Kajaat (pronounced KAW-zaw), or KJ as she called by her teammates, is a rebounding machine,” LCC coach Chad Meadors said. “I saw her play two summers ago and kept an eye on her. When she was injured, we were the only school who stuck with her. She’s a strong kid, but it’ll take some time to get her back into shape.”

Squires and Koering will give LCC two solid post players with contrasting styles.

“Kajaat is more of a physical, defensive player who can finish under the basket,” Meadors said. “Cassie, who has worked hard in the off-season and is the frontrunner for the starting job, can face up and knock down the 16- to 17-foot jumper.”

Mortimer is a 5-10 forward who earned all-Metro League honors while leading the Quakers to a fifth place finish in the Class 3A State Championships, their first state appearance since 1995.

“Chardonnae plays hard at both ends of the floor,” Meadors said. “She can play the post and score with both hands around the basket, and she has the skills to step out and shoot the 3-pointer.”

Meadors plans to convert Mortimer into a backcourt player next season.

“She was a post player and we plan to keep that theme as a freshman,” he said. “Chardonnae has all the skills to be a solid, big guard for us. The transformation should be a lot of fun.”

Everett, a 5-9 carom magnet, grabbed a school-record 22 rebounds in a district tournament game against Battle Ground as a junior. She earned all-Greater St. Helens 4A League honors as a junior and senior and was also an all-league pick in soccer and tennis.

“Eva played the 4 out of necessity in high school and became one of the best rebounders in the area,” Meadors said. “She has nice skills and is very team-oriented and unselfish, and has a knack of finding open teammates. We’ll need to teach her to look for more shots.”

Meadors sees Everett getting key minutes because of her rebounding and defensive play.

“Eva helps us to shore up our perimeter defense which is one area we need help,” he said.

“Marla Jade and Sadie will be in the starting lineup, and it’s possible Eva could contend for one of the other starting positions.”

Marxer, who finished her prep career ranked 11th in school history with 697 points at Warrenton, earned all-state and all-Lewis and Clark League honors after leading the Warriors to a third place finish in the state tournament.

“Jordane reminds me a lot of former LCC player Nadra Evans because she’s the nicest kid in the world off the court, and very competitive when she steps on the court,” Meadors said. “She does everything really well and was the glue for Warrenton in their state tournament run.”

Meadors is excited about using Marxer’s versatility.

“She can play the wing, be the shooting guard or play the point,” he said. “When we want to press and use five guards, she can defend in the post and take charges. Jordane will provide us with a lot of spark.”

Albright, a 5-3 guard who graduated from Hudson’s Bay in 2008, signed at Tacoma College last season but didn’t play. As a junior, she helped the Eagles to its second-ever Class 3A state tournament appearance in 2007.

“Ruby is right up there with Jade as far as having foot speed and quick hands,” Meadors said. “She does a good job running the team, and she has no problem getting to the basket. We now have three good point guards (including Olstedt and Schwegler), while most teams are begging for one. This allows us to free up Marla so she can play on the wing.”

Meadors noted that sophomore forward Allison Horazdovsky returned home to Alaska and has enrolled at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Horazdovsky averaged 10 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game at LCC last season.

“We’d love to have had Allison come back but she was homesick,” Meadors said. “It hurts not having her experience coming back, but it also opens the door for others who are returning. Brittany Welch has worked hard over the summer, and now she will get a real chance to show what she can do.”