By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Daniel Durst started his coaching career a decade ago at Dadeville with the junior high and high school girls teams. After five years he went to Fair Play and assisted the high school boys and coached the junior high team. Last year, he came to Neosho to be the girls assistant coach.
Now Durst is in charge of the program, and he takes over after an 8-19 record last winter.
“We were building and it showed,” he said. “We lost some games I feel like we could have won, so this summer the biggest takeaway was to continue building up and trying to win those close games or those games we begin to compete in and then fall apart in the end. This summer was about putting everything together so we can have a more successful season this year.”
The Wildcats return a handful of starters from that team, including Karlee Ellick, a 6-foot-2 center who earned All-District honors in Class 5 District 6. She led the team in scoring average with 9.1 points per game and also in rebounds with 7.7 per contest.
“She started to really come alive the end of last season and had a phenomenal summer,” Durst said. “We’ll probably lean on her quite a bit this year. She’s really proficient around the basket and she’s our go-to if we need points.”
Maelynn Garrett returns as a guard/forward and she averaged 3.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists. She has more experience than just about anyone else, Durst said. Senior forward Raine Harris returns after scoring 4.1 points with 2.3 rebounds and an assist per game. Durst said she’s probably the team’s best defender and will be asked to guard opponents’ best players.
Sophomore guard Beclynn Garrett started as a freshman and averaged 8.9 points and 3.9 rebounds while also recording better than one assist and one steal per game. Durst wants to see her increase her scoring in year two. And sophomore forward Reagan McInturff earned some starts last season and scored 5.7 points per game with 2.8 rebounds and an assist. Her role may change in a new system; she may not play exclusively under the basket.
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Senior Meredith Baldwin, sophomore Carleigh Kinnaird and sophomore Avyn Blair are among those who return with experience and should see quite a few minutes this year. Some incoming freshmen could also earn varsity minutes.
Durst said the team focused on its transition game during summer workouts.
“The girls really like to get out and run,” he said. “I think that’s something that will be different from us this year. Our strength is we’re pretty young as a team and in the long run that’s going to help us out. We are pretty big with size, too. We’ve got two girls who are 6-2, one 6-1 and one 6-0. We’ve got a lot of length and size. For the most part our taller girls are pretty athletic and can run the floor pretty well, which aids us in our transition game.”
The Wildcats aren’t scheduled to play in a jamboree and their regular season begins Nov. 18 at Lamar. They’ll compete in the CJ Classic, host the Neosho Holiday Classic and also head to the Gary Keeling Invitational in Bolivar.
