The Neosho girls are coming off of a 12-14 season that ended in a first-round district loss to Nixa.
This year, the Lady Wildcats are looking to get back above .500, but they will have to do it without last season’s lone all-conference selection Caitlyn Jordan.
Jordan tore her ACL in late September and will miss the season a year after averaging a team-high 12 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
However, the cupboard isn’t bare for head coach Grant Berendt.
It starts with senior Sydney Linny and junior Makayla Hayes.
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“Both of these girls are always in the gym working on their game,” Berendt said. “They are the only two players in our program in our 40-40 Free Throw Club. I’m very excited to watch both of these girls play this season.”
Linny averaged 8.7 points per game last year. Hayes was just behind her at 8.5 points per game. Hayes also tied for the team lead in assists and second steals and rebounding to Jordan.
Junior Allison Burr is also back after scoring 229 points as a sophomore. She tallied 42 steals as well.
Other returning players that will have an impact include: senior Makenzie Lindsay, juniors Ashley Tallyer, Tori Frazier and Emilee Anderson and sophomore Madi Flynn.
All of these girls got experience as underclassmen last year, which should pay off in a big way this year.
“This is a group of kids that have a lot of varsity playing time,” Berendt said. “We started four sophomores and one junior last season and four of our current juniors played varsity as freshman. We will have to change some roles on our team but we are looking forward to this season and what it holds.”
As a team, Neosho shot 45-percent from the field and 26-percent from three last season. Expect those numbers to improve this season with the maturation of the team.
“Our team is up and coming,” Berendt said. “Four of our juniors now played varsity as freshman and four started as sophomores with three more sophomores coming off the bench in support roles. We have quite a bit of varsity experience now just trying to put it all together.”
Neosho will open the season on Nov. 21 at home against Seneca.
The Lady Wildcats will play in the Joplin and Frontenac tournaments along with their home holiday tournament.
