By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Waynesville Lady Tigers fielded a young team and struggled in the win column last season, but coach Brittany Matlock is encouraged by the strides her team has made heading into 2022-2023.
“Our team did a great job of working through all of the challenges that were thrown their way,” said Matlock, who enters her 17th year at Waynesville. “We had many rotations with many players that had never seen much, if any, varsity playing time. There are many moments that we could have just given up, but we kept moving forward. For that, I will always be proud of that group.”
The Lady Tigers graduated Brielle Garcia (6 points, 8 rebounds per game), CJ Jones (4 ppg, 5 rpg) and Kaylee Gambill (2 ppg, 3 rpg), who were part of the squad that finished 4-19 overall, 2-8 in the Ozark Conference and a first-round loss in the Class 6 District 2 tournament to Eureka.
“We would like to keep making progress from last season,” Matlock said. “I look forward to us getting better each day and making progress towards our goals on and off the court.”
A bright spot to the Lady Tigers’ season is the return of junior forward Breona Hurd.
The University of Virginia commit averaged 22 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and 2 blocks per game last season. In addition, Hurd earned all-state, all-district, all-conference first-team and defensive team honors.
“Breona is an all-around player that contributes on both ends of the floor,” Matlock said of her junior, who is closing in on 1,000 points and 500 rebounds for her career. “As a sophomore, she adjusted to being the main focus of every team’s scouting report. I am excited to continue to watch her grow on and off the court and look forward to what the future holds.”
Other key returnees for the Lady Tigers include junior Katlyn Black, who averaged 4.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, as well as seniors Kaylah Brown and Brittany Davidson both of whom saw varsity time and whom Matlock looks to take on more responsibilities.
Matlock also said Waynesville has a group of incoming freshmen who could have an impact at the varsity level.
“We will be young in varsity experience,” Matlock said. “Most of our players will be first- or second-year varsity players. The majority of our kids play a fall sport, so we haven’t had much time with them since we finished our summer schedule.”
The Lady Tigers will compete in the Branson Battle at the Border tournament on Dec. 1-3 before hosting Newburg on Dec. 5. They also will play in the West Memphis Blue Devil Classic (Dec. 9-10), host the Route 66 Classic (Dec. 16-17), the Rolla Oral Surgery Holiday Tournament (Dec. 27-29) and the Washington Tournament (Jan. 23-27).
“We have a group that is eager to learn and not afraid to work,” Matlock said. “As a coach, you can’t ask for much more than that. As long as we are making forward progress each day and being competitive, everything else will take care of itself.”
