By Chris Parker
Nevada girls basketball took a step back last year with an 11-13 record. It snapped a streak of three winning seasons that included a district championship in each season.
The Lady Tigers will look to get back to contending for conference and district titles this year with an experienced core returning from last season’s team including two of the team’s three all-conference selections.
Sophomore guard Clara Swearingen earned second-team all-conference honors as a freshman. She was the only freshman to be names to the all-conference teams.
“Clara has spent a lot of time on her game. She had such a big impact for our team at the varsity level because of her scoring. Clara isn’t only able to shoot, she can guard as well. Clara has a high basketball IQ. We are counting on her to continue to improve and lead our team,” Nevada head coach Blake Howarth said. “Clara’s biggest growth is being more vocal. This past summer we needed her to fill that big leadership role that Tylin Heathman had. Clara has grown into a leader by her actions on the floor and leadership encouragement. Clara is going to be our Floor General this season.”
Senior guard Grace Barnes is the second returning all-conference player for Nevada. She was honorable mention all-conference.
“Grace has a ton of potential to be a good shooter. We will look for her to knock down shots for us this season,” Howarth said. “Grace is another one that gets it done on the defensive end. Grace will have an important role of guarding other team’s best players. We will look to Grace to be another leader for us.”
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Four more players in senior forward Bailey Ast, junior post Abbey Heathman, junior guard Maddy Majors and sophomore forward Katie Johnson return as well.
Howarth on Ast: “Bailey is a returning letterman for us. She is able to knock down the outside shot. Bailey is a scrapper and we will look to her again this season to take on that role.”
Howarth on Heathman: “Abbey was a player that truly grew every single game for us last season. She got the opportunity to get varsity time and did great things for us. Abbey has the ability to score inside and out. We are looking for Abbey to be a leader for us. Also, we want Abbey to continue to grow like she did last season.”
Howarth on Majors: “Maddy is a player that got some time for us during the last season. Maddy had a great summer and gave us high hopes for the potential she has to help our program. Maddy is another we will look for to lead. Maddy has the ability to score. She is another player that is able to guard on the defensive end and we will look for her to take on those roles.”
Howarth on Johnson: “Katie is a player that came on late for us last season. She has a knack for being around the ball. Katie is a great rebounder and finisher around the basket. Her defensive present will be another thing we look forward to.”
Seniors Jerica Collins (post) and Ashley Mather (post) along with freshman Caylee Holcomb (guard) will be newcomers to watch.
Howarth on Collins: “Jerica is a hard worker when on the floor. She will be able to come in and be a good rebounder and defender for us.”
Howarth on Mather: “Ashley is another player that works hard while on the floor. Ashley will be one we look to use for her length.”
Howarth on Holcomb: “Caylee is a go-getter. Caylee had opportunities to get some minutes this summer at the varsity level. She was able to guard and has a high motor. We think we will be able to use her energy and intensity at the varsity level.”
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The returning experience will be a strength for Nevada, but the Lady Tigers will have to be more consistent on the offensive end.
“Some strengths our program will have this year is experience at the varsity level. We lost really good seniors, however we return several players. With those returners the players know the expectation of what we want to accomplish,” Howarth said. “For us to be successful, we need to be consistent with our scoring. We will look for our players to spend extra time before, during, and after practice to get game-like shots.”
Nevada will travel to Cassville for a jamboree on Nov. 16 with Seneca and Cassville. The Lady Tigers open the regular season on Nov. 23 at home against Mt. Vernon.
“We have had success the last several years. We want our program to get back to that success and coaching successful Student-athletes,” Howarth said. “We have a great group of student-athletes. We are looking forward to this season and the growth we are capable of.”
