By Mark Spillane (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Mike Kenney takes over the Stockton girls basketball program with the goal of competing every single night.
“We are expecting to compete nightly,” Kenney said. “We will have a little bit of a new look, with new coaching staff. We spent a lot of time implementing some new looks and learning the new sets.”
The new faces bring some new expectations in the always-tough Mid-Lakes Conference. Kenney says it starts with effort.
“We will attack each game, by opponent and work hard on putting ourselves in a position to win.”
The Lady Tigers will need to replace a duo of all-conference honorable mentions from last year’s 12-14 team. Those players were guards Katie Hedrick and Cassidy Duncan.
“[Katie] was a very solid off guard, who had good range. [She] was a big part in the half-court offense. [The team] ran a lot of looks for her for three-pointers,” Kenney said.
While Hedrick played off the ball, Duncan ran the offense.
“[Cassidy] did a very good job of handling offense and getting them in sets. Defensively, she created a lot of pressure on opposing guards which really set the tone for the [half-court] defense they played,” Kenney said.
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If the Lady Tigers are to find success this year, it will start with sophomore Summer Kenney. She earned First-Team All-District honors last year while helping Stockton win one district game.
“[She is] a versatile player,” Kenney said. “We plan on her being someone to build around on both sides of the ball.”
Kenney averaged 8.9 points per game last year.
Not far behind her was then-junior Jenna Rickman, who averaged 5.8 points per game. The senior will be a key contributor again this season.
“[She] brings an offensive threat to us. We expect her to be a force on the boards also. We are expecting a good, consistent year from her,” Kenney said.
Junior guard Abby Flora and sophomore guard Kylie Hunter both started several games last year and should do so again this season.
5’9” sophomore center Jayla Thornton is expected round out the starting five.
Two upperclassmen will re-join the team after some time away from the game.
Senior Callie Henson is coming back after a couple years off, while junior Kara Hedrick comes back after one year off.
Two freshmen, Ellie Flora and Riley Graves, will also join the Lady Tigers this year.
The new faces will force Stockton to figure out their best nightly lineup.
“We have a lot of questions to answer on depth and roles,” Kenney said. “The quicker we get that established, the better we will be able to compete.”
