By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Carl Junction’s girls basketball program has been one of the most dominant in the area for years now. The Bulldogs went a combined 99-19 over the last four seasons and finished second in Class 5 last season with a 30-2 record.
Change is certainly in store for the Bulldogs this year, though, and it starts at the top: Brad Shorter, last year’s Central Ozark Conference Coach of the Year, stepped down after the season. And Carl Junction graduated Destiny Buerge, the COC co-Player of the Year, as well as Klohe Burk, who was on the COC All-Defensive Team.
The new head coach is Ryan Odaffer, who previously coached Carl Junction’s boys for four seasons before stepping away in 2012 to get into administration. A Labette County (Kansas) High School graduate, Odaffer played basketball at Pittsburg State in college and also coached at Webb City before moving to the Bulldogs.
“I got out of administration last year and I’ve got a couple girls of my own I’ve been coaching, an 8th grader and a 5th grader, so I’ve been coaching them and wanted to get back in when coach Shorter stepped out,” Odaffer said. “Hopefully I’ll get to coach my girls in the future.”
Odaffer will have his work cut out for him replacing a very productive senior class. Buerge, who’s now playing at Pittsburg State, averaged 23.9 points last season with 5.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.2 steals. Burk averaged eight points and 2.3 steals, and Hali Shorter averaged 3.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.2 steals.
“Just an unbelievable season,” Odaffer said. “To go undefeated in the COC is incredible because those teams are good, the COC’s very good and to win the conference championship is a big deal. Then to make the run to the Final four and the championship game wasn’t easy. They always found a way to win. It didn’t end how anybody wanted it to but they had a great run last year and had some really good players.
“We’ve got a completely different team now so we’ve got to kind of shift gears a little bit,” he said. “We’ve got a few girls back from that championship run but we have got to readjust to our new personnel because it’s going to be a new team this year.”
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The Bulldogs do return two starters who were each big contributors last season. Junior Dezi Williams earned honorable mention COC honors and averaged 7.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals. And senior Kylie Scott was a first team selection in the COC who averaged 13.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.9 blocks. Odaffer said both are special players.
Scott should join the school’s 1,000-point club early in the season; she enters the year with 938. And she also has a shot of reaching 1,000 career rebounds – she’s at 736 currently and has averaged 305 over the last two seasons.
“Kylie being 6-2 and an inside/outside threat is obviously a huge deal,” he said. “She can control the game from rebounding and blocking shots on the defensive side but also on offense with how well she can shoot the ball, get to the basket and she also sees the floor extremely well. That’s something you can build off of, someone who can be as dominant as she can be on both ends of the floor. I’m super excited about what we can do with her. Dezi’s got natural talent. Everything’s easy for her whether it’s offense or defense. She’s just a natural athlete. Those two can really work off each other and they make the game easier for the whole team when they are both being aggressive and being the leaders of the team.”
Senior Anna Burch is “very skilled in the post” and looks to be a big contributor by rebounding and shooting, Odaffer said.
“She’s just a well-rounded post player so I see her being one that steps in as a starter,” he said.
Several juniors and a few sophomores will also help out. Junior Shaye Buerge (2.2 PPG, 1.6 REB) played some varsity last season, as well as sophomore Jadyn Howard (2.3 PPG, 2.2 REB). Juniors Delaney Harris and Kenna Ellison and sophomore Madison Hembree could also earn varsity time.
As far as style of play, Odaffer said he’s a big believer in adjusting to what players you have and said this year’s team features a different set of players with different skill sets.
“Our style of play is definitely going to be different,” he said. “We won’t be able to be the run and gun team that we’ve been accustomed to because we don’t have the same players and that’s okay. We’re going to adjust and run things through Kylie and make her the focal point. Hopefully she makes the game easier for everybody else and we’ll go from there. Early in the season it’s going to be kind of trial and error and see what we’re doing well and what we’re not.”
Carl Junction will travel to Webb City for a jamboree on Nov. 16, and the Bulldogs open the regular season with three straight tournaments: the CJ Classic (Nov. 27-30), Freeman Lady Eagle Classic (Dec. 7-9) and Lady Mustang Classic (Dec. 11-13). They’ll play in two more tourneys in January before tipping off regular season play for the final time in the COC.
Odaffer said the goal is to surprise people by the end of the season.
“I know the girls coming back that played varsity last year had a lot of pride and they expect to win because that’s all they know,” he said. “I hope that leads to all the teammates and the younger kids and by the end of the season we’re competing for a district championship and beyond.”
