[ad_1]
Feb. 25—There’s only a few weeks left in the prep hoops season.
That’s simply hard to fathom.
With district play starting up this week for a lot of area schools, here are some top storylines in the high school girls basketball world among schools in the Globe coverage area:
Same ‘ole Miller
At this point, Miller should be the top-ranked team in Class 3. The Cardinals finished the regular season 25-1 and are riding a 23-game winning streak since a loss to Kickapoo in the Carthage Tournament on Dec. 5 — some 81 days ago. And Miller just knows how to win.
The fascinating aspect about the Cardinals is that just six players have played in every game this season, so they have very little depth. But Miller compensates with a tremendous core of scorers — juniors Kaylee Helton (16.1 points), Claudia Hadlock (14.3 points) and Payton Richardson (10.7) as well as senior Lili Merrick (10.2 points).
Add in Alyssa Hill and Haylie Schnake and the Cardinals could find themselves in the Final Four in a few weeks.
“We entered the (Carthage) Tournament knowing what kind of caliber teams we would be playing,” Miller coach Hannah Wilkerson said. “When we played Kickapoo, I felt our team was excited to play a team like that and had the mindset that no matter what happens we will walk off the floor a better team. Kickapoo is a well-coached team and has some great players. Since then, we have had consistency in practice and games. We have gotten better everyday, but we are not satisfied. Our 25-1 regular season record no longer matters now that we are in the postseason.
“We have to bring it every game the rest of the way.”
Rolling Mountaineers
Mount Vernon has been one of the best teams in the area throughout this season. And Grant Berendt’s Mountaineers have been white hot since dropping a semifinal matchup against Ozark on Jan. 20 in the Gary Keeling Tournament in Bolivar.
Since that game, Mount Vernon has won eight straight games in Big 8 Conference play and have outscored opponents 511-224 during that stretch. The dynamic 1-2 punch of Lacy Stokes and Ellie Johnston provide most of the heavy lifting for Mount Vernon, averaging 24.4 and 17 points per game, respectively.
“It starts with them on the offensive and defensive end for us,” Berendt said back on Dec. 23. “Both have played on varsity for four years. Lacy has been a four-year starter. Ellie has played significant minutes since she was a freshman. I think they have been through a lot of the battles and fires of these big games. We’ve had a lot of other kids come in and do their roles really well. I think we are trying to build upon what we did last year.”
The Mountaineers also feature Raegan Boswell, Lisa Kruger and Allie Schubert. Cameryn Cassity, who has been out since December, recently returned to the court following an injury. Mount Vernon certainly has the star power to go deep in the state playoffs.
Carl Junction finding its footing
Despite suffering a setback to conclude the regular season at 15-8, the young Bulldogs will still be plenty dangerous in the playoffs.
Sophomore Destiny Buerge is ascending into one of the area’s finest players. She’s up to 24 points per game after breaking Carl Junction’s single-game scoring record against Webb City two weeks ago with a 48-point outburst. Not only that, the point guard is averaging 6.1 rebounds, 4.4 steals and most importantly to her team — a team-high 2.9 assists.
“(Playing team basketball) is something we have been working on,” Bulldogs coach Brad Shorter said. “The entire area knows Destiny is a really good player. When she is moving the ball around and getting it back, we’re at our best. I think that’s starting to happen.”
Even though top rebounder Kylie Scott is out with a wrist injury, Carl Junction has picked up transfer Klohe Burk, who’s averaging 10.3 points per game and adds another shooter from the perimeter. Jessa Hylton (10.5) is also averaging double figures.
College Heights, McAuley could make postseason noise
The Cougars are one of the top teams in Class 2 and are poised to repeat as district champions. College Heights is 47-5 over the last two seasons and have inherited the winning gene like Miller, featuring an experienced group of seniors Grace Bishop, Kaynahn Burk, Catie Secker and Lainey Lett.
The biggest test that awaits them will likely be Blue Eye in sectionals, assuming the Bulldogs win out.
“Obviously, winning districts was great for us last year,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “We would have liked to have won that close game against Blue Eye. We have a lot of respect for Blue Eye’s program. They are a great team and we played them very close. We could have won that game. That’s a bit of a motivator again for us this year.”
Another team I’ve grown bullish on lately is Class 1 McAuley Catholic, who has some firepower thanks to the 1-2 punch of Kayleigh Teeter and Kennedy DeRuy. These two are capable of scoring at all three levels and can carry their team at any given time.
The Cougars and Warriors are playing for district championships on Friday night at Webb City and Lamar, respectively.
Derek Shore is a sports writer for the Globe and receives correspondence at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @D_Shore23.
[ad_2]
Source link
