By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Parkview Lady Vikings faced a lot of challenges last year but fought through them for a better finish than the prior two seasons.
“We had a lot of illness and injuries, which caused us to use seven different starting lineups, so I think we learned to be flexible and make changes in a short period of time,” said head coach Keri Nichols.
The Lady Vikings, who were coming off back-to-back nine-win seasons, finished 11-16 overall and 4-6 in the Ozark Conference in 2022-2023, and look to continue that upward trend with the return of Tara Masten, Austin Hall and Brooklyn Masten.
Tara Masten, 5-foot-5 senior point guard – Averaged 16.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.1 steals per game; earned Class 5 all-state, Class 5 All-District 6 and first-team All-Ozark Conference honors. Masten uses her speed on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, according to Nichols.
Austin Hall, 5-4 senior guard – 7.6 ppg, 2.84 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.76 spg; committed to Baptist Bible College. “The best outside shooter on the team,” Nichols said.
Brooklyn Masten, 5-7 junior forward – 6.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.9 spg; has a strong move to the basket.
Nichols will be looking to Annika Giles and Sierra Clark to make an immediate impact to the lineup this season.
Giles is a junior guard and Clark is a senior center, who will provide rebounding and a defensive presence.
“We have spent the offseason working on our strength,” Nichols said. “Since we are small, we have focused on our strength to make up for lack of size when battling inside. We have also been looking at what system will fit our players the best. We have been looking at how to put each team member in a position where they can be successful.
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“All members of the team have been locked in and trying to get better. They are an extremely coachable group and are making strides quickly. We are pretty athletic and are able to get the ball down the floor quickly. We have guards that both shoot the 3 and drive the paint.”
Parkview will look to replace the holes left by the graduation of Jestiny Worley and Leah Reichert.
Jestiny Worley, a post player who averaged 7.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg. “She was a solid post presence for us, and one of our leading rebounders,” Nichols said.
Leah Reichert – “She did a little of everything for us until she tore her ACL at Christmas.”
Nichols says that speed and quickness will be strengths of her team this season, while the overall lack of varsity experience will be a challenge.
“Our speed and quickness allow us to really push the tempo and get a shot up quickly before the defense sets up,” Nichols said. “Our guard play will have to take the stress off our young post players.
“We have three players with extensive varsity experience, but others are going to have to step up and play quality minutes. Our post players are young and really need time to learn our system. It will require our old meshing with our new.”
The Lady Vikings open the season in the Carl Junction Tournament on Nov. 27-30, on the road at Willard on Dec. 7 before hosting Springfield Catholic on Dec. 11 at the Jarrett Middle School gym.
“I expect that we will play a lot of close games this year,” Nichols said. “While we have a strong core of returners, a lot of our success will depend on some freshmen and sophomores stepping up on the varsity level. The quicker they become accustomed to that level of play the more successful we will be.”
