By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Hartville coach Steve Sanders isn’t satisfied with moral victories.
The Lady Eagles’ goal every year is to compete for a conference and a district championship. And while they were tri-champs with Gainesville and Mansfield for the Summit Conference title, they came up just short of knocking off Strafford in the Class 3 District 10 semifinal.
“I felt like we were on our heels a little bit when the game first started, but once we got into the game, I was proud of how our girls competed,” Sanders said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make plays down the stretch and Strafford being Strafford, found a way to win the game by 3. While it was a great showing for us, we can’t be satisfied to say we almost beat them or any other team for that matter.”
The Lady Eagles finished the season with an 18-6 overall record and 5-1 in the conference.
“We had some girls really step up and fill the roles we needed them to fill to win games,” Sanders said. “I felt like (the Mountain Grove Holiday Tournament title) was when we were playing team basketball and the jitters were gone for the players in their new roles.”
Heading into the 2021-22 season, Hartville returns a good deal of experience but must find a way to fill the gap left by Jadalyn Keith, a three-year starter who surpassed 1,000 career points. Keith earned multiple all-conference and all-district honors and averaged 17.5 points per game last season.
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“Jadalyn exemplified what we want our program to be,” Sanders said. “She was a great player on both sides of the ball and an overall great kid. It will take a group effort to replace what she was able to bring to our program.”
Experienced returnees for Hartville include McKinley Sanders, Kylie Harris, Kaylee Ferguson, Molly Brown and Jenna Kelley.
“We don’t have many players this year; 10 total with one of those being injured,” Sanders said. “Our core group will have to play a big bulk of the minutes. Most of them played a big part of our minutes last year, so this won’t be anything new.”
• McKinley Sanders, 5-9 senior guard/forward – Averaged 17.5 points, 6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.1 steals. An all-state, all-district and all-conference first-team selection who is receiving interest from NAIA schools and junior colleges and should reach the 1,000-point mark this season. “McKinley has a really good skill-set,” Coach Sanders said. “She can play any spot on the floor at a high level. It’s no secret that we will rely heavily on her to do a lot of different things for us. We feel like McKinley is the type of player to make her teammates better. She is a great leader and is only concerned with team success. We are looking for her to have another big year for us and we know she will make her senior season her best season yet.”
• Kylie Harris, 5-7 senior guard – Averaged 4.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1 spg. “Kylie had a solid junior year in her first year as a starter. She is a consistent shooter and has worked really hard this offseason to get stronger. We know what we are going to get out of Kylie every night and we are glad to have her for one more season.”
• Kaylee Ferguson, 5-6 senior forward – Averaged 2.5 ppg, 2 rpg, .5 apg, 1 spg. “Kaylee split time last season but will play a bigger role on the varsity this year. She can play inside or outside, which is something that we will utilize this year.”
• Molly Brown, 5-6 junior guard – Averaged 6.5 ppg, 3 rpg, 1.5 apg. Earned all-conference first-team honors. “Molly had a really good year for us last year. She was able to knock down a lot of big shots for us throughout the season. We will look for her to take on an even bigger scoring role for us in her junior year.”
• Jenna Kelley, 5-10 sophomore forward – Averaged 5.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg. “Jenna started for us as a freshman. She plays in the post but is also capable of handling the ball and making shots from the outside. We are hoping to get her a little more aggressive around the basket so she can be an even bigger threat.”
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Sanders says the Lady Eagles should still be competitive, even with the loss of Keith.
“We have some good players returning and we know that they will be even better this season,” Sanders said. “We have girls that are all capable of making opens shots which should make us a little tougher matchup than what some people may expect.”
Sanders has some young players looking to contribute this season.
• Hannah Keith, sophomore – “Hannah is good shooter and may have to give us some depth in the guard spot.”
• Erin Still, sophomore – “Erin is a good defender for her size, and may be able to split time for us this year.”
• Rileigh Sinning, sophomore – “Works hard and will continue to improve; she is always willing to fill any role we give her.”
• Jalya Ferguson, freshman – “Jayla, unfortunately, is recovering from ACL. We are not sure when she will be able to return to basketball.”
Hartville opens their season at home against Aurora on Nov. 23.
“Every game we will need to be ready to play,” Sanders said. “There is not team on our schedule that we are 20 points better than. It’s our hope that our tough schedule will prepare us for district play.”
