By Shelley Ebbrecht
The Jasper girls return to the court as undefeated Spring River Valley Conference Champions but will have to defend the title with an entirely new lineup.
After graduating 10 seniors from last year’s squad, including SRVC Player of the Year Lexie Royster, the Lady Eagles will have their work cut out for them to stay on top.
“We are very inexperienced and have a lot of areas to improve, but the ladies are hard workers and I expect to see a lot of improvement from the beginning of the season to the end,” said 13-year coach Kent Anderegg who himself was named SRVC Coach of the Year last season.
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The Lady Eagles finished 26-2 last year, 9-0 in the conference, after losing the Class 2 District 3 championship battle to Adrian. Graduated seniors Lexie Royster, Anne-Marie Anibal and Morgan Winchester were all named 1st Team All-Conference while two more seniors—Brianna Cawyer and Elizabeth Maneval—were honored with 2nd Team All-Conference nods.
With the senior stars of the team gone, Jasper will undoubtedly have to switch it up on the court this year in order to remain competitive in the conference once again.
“There will be a lot of changes in what we do due to lack of experience and depth,” Anderegg said.
Upperclassmen Rylee Ervin and Terra Bowman will be looked upon to lead the Lady Eagles in the rebuilding year. Ervin is the team’s lone senior this year and Anderegg described her as a quiet leader.
“She will lead by example this season,” Anderegg said “Rylee has put a lot of time into being a quality shooter and dribbler.”
Much of the team’s communication will rely upon Bowman as a junior point guard.
“Terra will be our vocal leader and one of our main ballhandlers,” said Anderegg.
Freshmen to watch are Kristy Holliday and Sydney Webb. Other newcomers to the varsity roster include juniors Kayana Bruce and Kaitlyn Adams along with sophomore Katelyn Dockery. Anderegg’s confidence in his young team is based on their personalities on the court.
“These girls have strong character and are very coachable,” Anderegg said.
The Jasper girls will host the Jasper Invitational Jamboree November 11 and face Rich Hill in their first regular season game November 22. The team has three tournaments on the schedule for the season, including the Carl Junction Invitational beginning November 28.
“We have a very difficult season starting with the Carl Junction tournament,” Anderegg said. “The conference race should also be very competitive.”
