By Jordan Burton
The Carl Junction girls are the favorite to make it to state in Class 4 out of our area, but there a lot of other challengers.
Here is what to expect out of this week’s Class 4 girls district basketball tournaments.
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Carl Junction looking to get over the hump
Carl Junction might have been the best Class 4 team in Missouri last year, but a quarterfinal loss to Owensville ended the Lady Bulldogs shot at the school’s first state championship. But, they’re back and maybe even better than last year because of how good they are defensively. CJ has held 10 opponents to 20 points or less and some explosive teams well below their averages (Lebanon to 39, Branson to 27, Ozark to 45, Carthage to 6). Senior Alex Vogt (12.8 PPG, 2.3 SPG) and Megan Scott (11.5 PPG, 6 RPG, 1.5 BPG) will received All-COC Large honors in their first year in the conference. Scott turned down D-1s to commit to Pitt State earlier in the year. CJ has also received a boost from her freshman sister, Katie (7 PPG, 6 RPG, 1.3 BPG) and the return of Emma Frack’s floor-stretching abilities. The Lady Bulldogs have won 12 straight games; they are the team everyone else is chasing.
Is the drought over in West Plains
West Plains has averaged 21 wins per season since 2008, but the Lady Zizzers haven’t won a district championship since 2012, something this group of seniors has been vocal in wanting to change. This is yet another good Scott Womack team and the strength of schedule and resume is again quality. WP split with Ozark and Rogersville, beat Republic, Nixa and Salem, while also giving Strafford and Kickapoo competitive games. Four of their seven losses have come by two possessions or less. West Plains will also have the luxury having the two best players on the floor on a given night. Elle Williams (17.7 PPG, 5 RPG) has made yet another major leap in her game, shouldering much of the scoring load and adding a 3-point shot to her repertoire. Drury signee Payton Richards is as steady as she’s ever been. The four-year starter is leads the team in assists (4.2 APG) and steals (2.6 SPG) to go along with 12.7 PPG. Juniors Kendra Davidson and Lily Harris have built on their solid sophomore campaigns, giving West Plains more balance. The Lady Zizzers have won six of their last eight entering district play.
Denny McHenry has Rogersville back
Rogersville went three decades between outright conference championships and now the Lady Cats have gone two years without dropping a conference game. You can make a case that Rogersville has played the toughest schedule of anyone around, with four of its six losses coming against nationally-ranked opponents – three losses to Strafford, one to Argyle (Texas). The other two losses came to West Plains and Lebanon. LogRog holds wins over Mount Vernon, Ozark, Fair Grove and Willard. Rogersville has won eight straight since it last lost to Strafford and the fact that they got the 2-seed will only add fuel to the fire. The fact that McHenry has four players averaging between 8-13 PPG, just one of which is a senior, makes this a scary group.
Gabani, Bolivar one year early
Bolivar has had some ups and down this year, which is the product of playing young kids. Three of Bolivar’s top seven scorers are sophomores, three more are juniors and Megan Spear is the lone senior. The Lady Libs averaged 21 wins a season from 2010-15. This team has some inexperience and is probably a year away from really competing, but this is still a Darin Archer team and Bolivar is already ready to go come March. They also have one of the area’s best talents in junior Michelle Gabani. The 5-foot-10 point forward leads Bolivar in every major stat category (16 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 4.6 APG, 4.5 SPG, 1.7 BPG). She’s had three triple-doubles already and flirted with a quadruple-double in the opening round matchup with Reeds Spring (21 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, eight steals).
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Who is Webb City?
The Lady Cardinals are the 2-seed in Class 4 – District 10 and the best option of anyone in the district to upset Carl Junction. On one hand, they have wins over Nixa, Willard and Battle. On the other hand they’re offensively challenged at times and lack consistency. They’re talented enough to make a run, but do so they’ll have to beat a CJ team they held them to just 26 points in their regular season meeting. Considering they have zero seniors on their roster, the Lady Cardinals are probably a year away too.
Cassville has hidden gem in Madi Stokes
Stokes might be the best post player you haven’t heard of. Cassville’s 6-foot-3 junior has owned the paint this year, averaging 18.7 PPG, 10.7 RPG and 3.5 BPG, which includes a 25-point, 15-rebound, 13-block gem against Lamar earlier this year. Stokes commands double teams and even then sometimes it’s not enough to stop her. Cassville has won six of its last eight games and could easily find itself playing Carl Junction for the Class 4 – District 10 title, which would match Stokes up with the Scott sisters.
Yet another monster season for Jordyn Bartlett and Osage
Last year Osage lost to Helias by three in the district championship game; that was a 22-win team. This year’s group is on the verge of another 20-win season and has enough weapons to not only win this district, but also make a Final Four run. Yes, the Lady Indians lost to Eldon in the regular season finale, but that loss might be more beneficial than anything. Osage’s balance is what makes them so dangerous. Senior post Jordyn Bartlett is where it all starts. She anchors the paint for Osage (9.1 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 5 BPG) and is the reason opponents shoot just 34% from the field. She holds school records in blocks and game played and is on the verge of breaking the rebounding record. Scott Rowland also has plenty of talent around her. Senior guard Kendal Miller (13.6 PPG) is the program’s all-time leader in 3s, including 56 this season. Sophomores Kerrigan Gamm (11.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG) and Carson Wood (10 PPG, 6.3 RPG) bring extreme versatility to this team. They’re hosting districts, where they have won 18 of their last 21 games, which makes them even more dangerous.
We will miss Payton Curley
It’s going to be strange to imagine Salem Basketball without Payton Curley; the Culver-Stockton commit has been that good for the Lady Tigers. She’s one of just a handful of active players in the Ozarks with 1,700 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists. This year she put up 21.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 3.4 APG for Salem. The Lady Tigers got upset by Owensville in the first round of districts, but Curley will go down as one of the best players to come out of Salem.
District 12 the weak link
If you’re in district 9-11 then you’re a little salty when you look at District 12 and see just one team above .500. District 9 is loaded with West Plains and Rogersville. District 10 has Carl Junction, which has spent much of the year at No. 1 in Class 4, as well as Cassville and Webb City (both several games over .500). District 11 had three teams with at least 18 wins, all of which have been state-ranked at some point this year. As we know, this stuff comes in cycles and on a given night anyone can go down. But, the way this works out is that the Eldon-Osage winner will likely have an easy path to the quarterfinals.
