By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
You’ll be hard pressed to find a coach that has been more successful over the last decade and a half than Brad Shorter.
In 500 games, he’s won 77 percent of his games, including a state championship.
Going into his eighth season at Carl Junction, Shorter has a roster that is again built to challenge for conference and district titles, and beyond.
The program has won four consecutive district championships, but few endings to a season have been as tough as last year.
Trailing by two with 4.4 seconds left, the Lady Bulldogs didn’t get off a shot to potentially tie or win the game in a 27-25 Sectional loss to Rogersville. The Lady Wildcats went on to finish fourth in lass 4 and CJ is now even hungrier for another postseason run.
“We lost to a quality team,” said Shorter. “Our kids have not forgotten about it. We will use that to help fuel our motivation for the season.”
Leading the way will be senior Katie Scott. The Drury commit averaged 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. She could challenge to become the school’s all-time leading scorer, with nearly 1,300 points entering this season.
“Katie is an unbelievable talent,” said Shorter. “(Drury) Coach (Molly) Miller will be very happy with her addition. Katie is a match up nightmare for so many teams, even in a conference as tough as ours with so many great players. Katie handles, rebounds, scores, passes the ball extremely well. She also does a great job of directing our team. Katie is a very cerebral player on the floor.”
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Fellow seniors Shila Winder and Dani Wrensch also return with several years of starting experience.
Winder averaged 6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and three steals per game. Wrensch added 6.4 points, 2.5 assists and 1.9 steals. They’re one of the best defensive backcourts in the COC.
“It will be great to have this duo back,” said Shorter. “When Vogt and Frack graduated, they had set the bar high while mentoring these two. Dani and Shila, I’m sure, will do the same for those underneath them. They provide experience and grit that will be valuable down the stretch. They can both shoot the ball, and they have gained confidence this off season with the work they have put in.”
Senior Taylor Hughes averaged six points and 3.3 rebounds last year and is back to provide another frontcourt presence. Classmates Ashley Stokes and Taylor Storm are also in the mix again and Shorter has been impressed with their work ethic.
A sneaky part of Carl Junction’s roster this year could be underclassmen, with sophomore Jessa Hylton and a strong crop of incoming freshmen.
Carl Junction has routinely been one of the best defensive teams in the area, which is a large reason why the Lady Bulldogs have won 118 games over the last five seasons. Opponents averaged just 41 PPG against CJ last season, the first time since 2013-14 that opponents, on average, scored more than 38 PPG.
That stifling defense has powered Final Four runs in two of the last three years.
But, if Carl Junction is to again challenge for conference, district and ultimately state championships, Shorter believes his team has to continue to grow and develop offensively.
CJ was 3-9 when scoring 50 points or fewer, 15-1 when scoring more than 50 points. From 2015-18, of Carl Junction’s 10 losses, nine occurred when the Lady Bulldogs failed to score more than 50 points.
Shorter believes his team’s offensive attack could dictate their long-term success.
“Pace of play has been our biggest hurdle the last couple of years,” said Shorter. “Our lack of scoring has been a direct result of this. This year we hope to increase our pace and as a result increase our scoring production.
“We have to have the same defensive mindset that we have been accustomed to. I feel we need to shoot the ball better, we need to be more consistent from the free throw line, and most importantly we have to pick up our pace of play. We have struggled the last couple of years to get that 8-10 points a game with run-outs and transition baskets.”
Carl Junction will open the 2019-20 season at home in the Freeman Sports Medicine CJ Classic on Dec. 2-5.
