By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
For the fourth year in a row the Webb City girls basketball team played for a district championship last season. But like the other three, the Cardinals suffered a loss to rival Carl Junction in the finals.
The narrow three-point loss capped a 9-15 season for Webb City, which had to overcome several injuries but also showcased some future potential down the stretch.
“We had a slow start to the season due to some injuries and right when we felt like we started playing some pretty good basketball in the middle of January and early February we had a couple more injuries and some kids we were counting on weren’t able to play,” head coach Lance Robbins said. “We had some other kids step up and we finished the season strong. We felt like we have a lot to build on going forward from last year. We finished the season strong and had a good summer and look to build on the way we ended last year.”
The Cardinals return about three starters but have to replace Jaydee Duda, who scored 16 points per game and was a second team pick in the Central Ozark Conference as well as an All-District player, and Sierra Kimbrough, who scored nine points per game and was named to the COC’s All-Defense team. She was also an All-District honoree.
Senior Kenzie Robbins returns after starting last season and averaging five points and three rebounds while also shooting 70 percent from the free throw line. Junior Kate Brownfield is the team’s leading returning scorer; she averaged six points and six rebounds as a sophomore. Senior Josie Spikereit started at times last year and averaged two points and three rebounds, and sophomore Mia Robbins made her way into the starting lineup towards the end of the season and averaged three points, two rebounds and two assists.
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Ripley Shanks (two points, two rebounds) and Austyn Mickey return as the team’s other seniors.
“We have four seniors this year and all of them played some varsity last year and contributed and I think they’re excellent leaders,” Robbins said. “I think they’re going to do an excellent job for us this year, all four of them. We have some underclassmen like Kate Brownfield who really came on toward the end of the year offensively and defensively and we look for her to have a breakout junior season.”
Junior Kylie Jennings (two points per game) and sophomore Malorie Stanley (three points) also return with experience, giving Robbins a good mix of youth and veterans back on the roster. Jennings is coming off a foot injury and will help fill the team’s void at guard. Mia Robbins will run the point again and Stanley provided a big scoring punch towards the end of last season.
Additionally, Sami Mancini, a 6-foot-4 freshman could see “considerable time” on the floor and has the potential to be a standout in her career.
“She could be a difference maker on both ends of the floor,” Robbins said.
One of the team’s strengths will be its senior leadership, Robbins said, and the Cardinals also have a chance to be solid defensively.
“We have pretty good size and length at each position on the floor and obviously having Sami, the big 6-4 freshman in the middle possibly anchor down the defense is going to be beneficial. She’ll go through some growing pains early, that’s part of the growth process. Offensively we think we’ll be able to score a little bit better this year than we have in past years. We’ll look to try to build on those things, being solid defensively and fundamentally solid offensively and play from the inside out.”
The Cardinals averaged 46.5 points per game last year.
Webb City will host a jamboree on Nov. 16 with Carl Junction and McDonald County before opening the regular season by hosting the Mustangs on Nov. 22. The Cardinals will travel to McDonald County’s Lady Mustang Classic in December, a new tournament for Webb City. They’ve also added a home game in early January against Nevada, a district opponent.
