East Newton welcomes in Rusty McDermott as head coach of the girls basketball team this year coming off of a 12-14 season overall with a 4-3 record in conference.
Four players in Kanah Burkey, Koty Cooper, Megan Sanders and Jaide Bradshaw graduated from that team. Cooper scored 14 points per game with 5.8 rebounds per contest. Burkey, a first-team all-conference selection, scored 13 points and had 4.6 rebounds per game.
Honorable mention all-conference selection Kinsey Sorrell returns for the Lady Patriots. She averaged six points, three rebounds and 2.5 assists per game last year.
Fellow senior Brynne Smith is also back to give East Newton a strong basis for leadership.
“We will have great senior leadership,” McDermott said. “They are all three sport athletes. They know what it takes day in and day out to get the most out of themselves and their team mates.”
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The junior trio of Kendra Hickman (5-foot-5), Robin Hussong (5-foot-7) and Serenity Adams (5-foot-4) along with sophomores Emily Hance (6-foot) and Madison McDermott (6-foot) will be the new faces to the varsity lineup this season.
“Our standards are going to be to play with heart and give our best every time we step on the floor,” McDermott said. “(We need to) have the mind set to do whatever it takes to make our team better. The Big 8 conference is a very tough conference with great players and coaches. We are going to try and come out and compete every night we get to play.”
East Newton will open its season in the Carthage Tournament Nov. 27 through Dec. 2.
