One basketball league in the Springfield area has a group of retired Southwest Missouri standouts revisiting the game and keeping their competitive spirit alive.
The College Pro-Am League at the Strafford Sports Center has area players and teams training for their upcoming seasons.
But it also has a group of, “I guess it is kind of a misfit because we have moved on playing in college,” said former West Plains standout Cass Johnson Denton.
Meet the B team. A squad compiled of former area athletes.
“I was like ‘I want to play’ and so I thought of these two,” Hillcrest alum Kelsie Cleeton said.
Cass Johnson Denton, Kelsie Cleeton, and Ashley Nimmo played together at College of the Ozarks. Among others, they’re joined by former Crane and Evangel teammates Lexie Vaught and Emma Lander Moore.
“C of O is a big rivalry of Evangel,” said Lander Moore.
Once rivals, now teammates.
“We still remember those times playing against each other but now it’s fun getting to play with each other and be united with the sport,” Lander Moore added.
“Getting back on the floor with the girls I haven’t seen in a while, and that I’ve played against for so many years. It’s nice to actually be on the same team now instead of play against,” Johnson Denton said.
“We know we’re the old ones, the slow ones and we can’t keep up with the young ones but we’re sure going to try,” Vaught added.
The B team is doing better than trying, they’re winning.
“I love being competitive and we like that adrenaline rush, so it’s just cool to get to do it together,” Nimmo said.
“We don’t want to lose in whatever we’re doing and so all of us together is so fun and we’re 2-0,” Cleeton said.
“I won’t sleep if we have one loss,” Johnson Denton added.
Now that their days of playing for a school are over, they’re proving you can always reconnect with the game you love.
“It’s fun, it’s keeping me in shape. It’s keeping us all in shape,” said Cleeton.
