Coach Rich Mueller guided Plato to back-to-back district championships before graduating two key seniors in 2015. The Lady Eagles regrouped, and the young team pulled out a 15-11 overall finish and third place in the conference last season. Eight of Plato’s 11 losses were by five points or less. The team also took second place in the Frisco League Tournament, third place in the Osage Tournament, and fourth in the Mountain Grove Holiday Tournament.
“We started a number of young players last year, including three juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen,” said Mueller, who now enters his 19th year of coaching. “We had good depth and were able to rotate starters depending on matchups.”
Despite the full roster, the team’s inexperience at the varsity level caused them to stall out in the first round of the district tourney with a two-point loss to Newburg.
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Returning this season is senior point guard Kendall Hall, a player who has experienced success with this team and will be hungry for it again. Plato’s most experienced player, she is quick and athletic and a skilled defender. Hall can run the floor well on the offense and was an honorable mention all-conference player last season, averaging 11 ppg, 4 apg, and 3 spg. “She is an exciting player to watch,” said Mueller.
Junior Janet Garrett was the team’s leading scorer last year, averaging over 17 ppg. “She is a gifted athlete…while last year she was mainly our shooting guard, this year she may find herself playing all five positions on the floor.” The first team all-conference player provides jumping, shooting, and scoring abilities and sees the floor well.
Junior Madi Mueller had 7 ppg and 6 rpg as a sophomore and will be challenged to increase her stat line this season. She was the team’s defensive MVP and with her work ethic and summer successes, she stands to be much improved this season.
Senior Kennedy Adams has started for the past two seasons but last year was cut short for her. She will assist the Lady Eagles with their inside game in her final year.
Classmate Hannah Breedlove adds versatility for the team. “She is strong in the post, especially defensively, yet she can step out and play the three guard if needed,” said Coach Mueller. “Hannah will be looked upon even more this season to provide the spark and physicality that our team needs.”
McKenna Crabtree, 5’10,” started last season as a freshman and is even stronger this year. The post player will help the team on the boards, is an inside scoring threat who can finish at the rim, and will be charged with defending the bigs the team will face.
Lorissa Neher rounds out the team as a sophomore who worked hard last season and should add to the team depth.
The Lady Eagles lose two seniors: Kora Freeman and Shalyn Steinbrink. “Kora played all four years and dedicated herself to making our team the best we could be,” said Mueller. “While she was not a starter and did not have flashy stats, she did whatever was asked of her every day. Her positive attitude and work ethic will be greatly missed.” Mueller said he could say much of the same for Shalyn, even though she had health issues that prevented her from playing for much of last season. “Shalyn was there every day, even when she was sidelined, being a positive motivator for the girls. We will miss that.”
What the team may lack in stature they make up for in speed. “We are a smaller team, we don’t have a lot of bigs, so we try to push the ball as much as possible, to stretch it out and put a lot of pressure on the ball,” said Mueller. “We want to get out and put pressure on people and make it a full-court game.”
