By Matt Turer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Branson Lady Pirates will look a little different this season without All-Everything guard and now Syracuse Lady Orange guard Priscilla Williams.
Williams closed out her career by being named Missouri’s Class 5 Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American after averaging 28.0 points, nearly 12 rebounds and over three blocks per game.
“Any time you lose a McDonalds All-American, it will leave a huge hole in your lineup,” Branson head coach Kip Bough said. “Plus, the fear factor she brought to each game. Teams had to prepare for her.”
But it wasn’t just her. Branson also said goodbye to forward Maddie Pardeck, who is now playing D3 basketball at Hendrix College. Center Sidney Davis and guard Hailey Lashley also graduated.
Pardeck (6’2”) went down with a broken wrist last season, which Bough said had a noted impact on the Lady Pirates down the stretch for a group that finished 16-11 and eventually fell 78-53 to Kickapoo in the Class 5 District 11 semifinals.
This year, Branson goes from a team with a healthy senior leadership to a team that’s far younger. And that’s something that Bough is looking forward to developing.
“We currently do not have any seniors and have many sophomores and freshmen,” Bough said. “A lot of the girls didn’t have as much playing time together in the previous season. This upcoming season will be a fresh start and a season to rebuild. Especially because we have several girls coming back from injuries. Being a young team just makes us that much more committed, determined and work harder to achieve our goals.”
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Branson brings back eight players from last year’s team, and a coach in Bough who has led this program to a 227-129 record in 14 years at the helm. Branson has finished at or above .500 in every season going back to 2009—which is as far as MSHSAA records are listed.
“I am very excited about our team and the group of young ladies we have coming up,” Bough said. “I told the girls that this is a two- or three-year team. We may struggle early in the year, but we will be so much better by the end of the season.’
“Our practices will be very competitive each day and people will see a noticeable improvement as the season progresses.”
One of those injuries is to junior Chloe Grimm (5’3”). A starter her freshman and sophomore years, Grimm averaged 5.1 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game last season but tore her ACL in May and isn’t expected back until at least January.
“She is a pest if she is guarding the ball handler and such a tough competitor,” Bough said. “We are so much better with her on the court.”
Junior guard Riley Crouse (5’5”) is in the same boat as Grimm. A starter as a freshman, Crouse has suffered ACL tears in each of her first two high school seasons and had an MCL tear over the summer.
Bough hopes that junior guard Joanna Lansman (5’10”) is able to make an impact this year. Lansman also suffered an ACL tear following a good freshmen year and did not play last season.
“She is back playing…and is a good shooter who has the ability to knock down threes and score,” Bough said.
Harleigh Hodges (6’3”) averaged 4.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 28 varsity games in 2019-20 as a freshman, starting the majority of the time. Hodges uses her height as an effective shot blocker and can also stretch the floor with 3-point shooting.
“She played at a very small junior high school and had to adjust to the speed and physicality at the Class 5 level,” Bough said. “She will be the kid with the most experience for us at the varsity level at the beginning of the year and I really believe she can be a good player moving forward.”
The Lady Pirates also return 5-foot-4 junior Rachel Riveros (1.6 PPG), 5-foot-4 sophomore Ellie Hoenie (2.3 PPG), 5-foot-6 sophomore Quinn Swofford (2.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG) and 5-foot-9 sophomore Tabitha Williams (3.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG).
Bough on Riveros: “Rachel handles the ball well and has the ability to make big shots. She will be called upon for big minutes this year.”
Bough on Hoenie: “Ellie worked her way up from the freshman team to starting the district semifinal game vs. Kickapoo last year and scoring 14 points in that game. She is a competitor who gets after the other team’s ball-handler, disrupts opposing offenses and then has very good quickness to the basket. She’s a very heady player with a high basketball IQ.”
Bough on Swofford: “She is a hard-nosed, dive-on-the-floor, get-the-tough-rebound, make-the-big-shot type of kid. We expect a lot of playing time for Quinn and her time on varsity last year will really help her this season.”
Bough on Williams: “Tabby was thrown into the fire as a freshman, starting several games. She is very long and has been around the game a lot. She’ll help shoulder the scoring load but also has a nose for rebounding.”
Newcomers include sophomore Jordan Wall (5’3”) and junior Shelby Heil (6’0”).
“I expect Heil to play significant minutes if not start for us,” Bough said. “She has grown two inches since last year and has great length. She rebounds and shoots the three well.”
Branson opens its season at home against Springfield Central on Nov. 23.
“We saw major improvement as the summer went on from the first day until the last,” Bough said. “I think we will be able to get and do some different things with this group that we haven’t been able to do in the last couple of years and we are looking forward to being able run some different systems and do some different things on the defensive end.”
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t had much of an impact on the Lady Pirates, but as with all teams, it is on their radar.
“We will have to change a few things regarding practice,” Bough said. “Obviously we can’t predict the future as far as games or quarantines, but we are going into the season with a similar approach to past seasons.”
