By Chris Parker
Few programs have had the consistency of Blue Eye girls basketball over the past decade. The Lady Bulldogs have won at least 19 games for eight straight seasons.
Success on that level starts well before the players reach high school according to Blue Eye head coach Jeff Dishman.
“For a program to be successful it really starts at the youth level,” Dishman said. “We are blessed to have such a good youth program, having great parents and or coaches to coach these kids at a younger age is a great way to start. Our middle school coaches do a great job as well in summer development and coaching these players while they’re in middle school, so when they do get to high school, they are ready to contribute at a high level. We have had some really good players here through the years, but I think that all the players that have played here knew one thing from the start, you will play hard, and if you play hard every minute, sometimes that is enough to get you wins. You look at all the great programs around southwest Missouri, they flat play hard. It takes great kids, it takes great parents, and it takes a great school, we have that here at Blue Eye, and I look forward to seeing where this program goes in the future.”
Blue Eye is in a good position to extend that 19-win streak to nine years with reigning conference player of the year Kaylee Wilson returning for her senior season. She averaged 26 points per game in conference games last season while pulling down 12 rebounds and five steals per contest. For the season, Wilson averaged 21 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals per game.
“Kaylee just never takes a day off. She works so hard every day in every drill. We ask her to play long minutes almost every night, that is what I think a conference player should look like,” Dishman said. “Be yourself. That’s my advice to Kaylee. Enjoy it, enjoy playing with your teammates, enjoy being a leader, enjoy the games and the practices. Keep putting your head down each day and go to work.”
She will see time all over the floor but primarily she will play shooting guard.
Emmalee Litel gives Blue Eye a second returning all-conference player. She was named second-team all-conference as a junior.
“Emmalee is so athletic, she does so many good things, and with her athleticism, she can be in a bad spot yet find a way to get out of it. If I had one word to describe her game, it would be ‘hectic’. She causes so much chaos when she is locked in. She plays sometimes out of control and if we try to coach her down or slow her down, she doesn’t play as well. So, we will allow her to play ‘hectic’,” Dishman said. “Emmalee showed this summer that she could be one of our leaders in practice and in the games. She was very vocal and was anxious to help our younger players. We need Emmalee to be that and more this season as a senior.”
Angelina Bettlach (senior guard), Olivia Cardenzana (senior forward), Chloe Kilgore (junior forward), Karlee Goldsmith (junior forward) and Meleah Mitchell (sophomore guard) also return for Blue Eye.
Dishman on Bettlach: “What people see in her size; she makes up for in her effort. She can flat guard on the ball. She has good defensive instincts. She needs to be more of that this season for us. Offensively, she is one of our better shooters with range. We have worked on improving other aspects of her game and look forward to seeing it this season.”
Dishman on Cardenzana: “Liv can be a very big spark off the bench. She can knock down shots from three. We need her to improve defensively and keep working each day in practice.”
Dishman on Kilgore: “Chloe played huge minutes for us last year and has started some in the past. She continues to get better each day, and we need her to be a post presence this season. She is a very strong young lady that can be very good. She brings some toughness to our team as evidenced by playing with an MCL injury in the district championship last year, an injury if we had known the severity of, most likely we would not have played her, but her best game of the season and I think it gave her some confidence. We look forward to having her for two more years.”
Dishman on Goldsmith: “This kid has put so much hard work into this season. She has been cheated the past two seasons only because of numbers and our lack of JV games. She had a great summer for us. She can be a difference maker on the boards on both ends of the floor. She needs to play with relentless effort, and she can be very good.”
Dishman on Mitchell: “Melaeh will only get better as we get more games both varsity and JV. Like some of our older kids, she just missed out on playing a lot of minutes because of lack of teams playing JV games. She needs to come in every day and practice hard, work in the weightroom and get stronger. She has good skills. She just needs to keep working.”
Blue Eye also has a deep freshman class that includes Molly Morgan (guard), Kinsleigh Vest (forward), Kinzie Garrison (forward), Anni Craig (forward) and Coral Fultz (forward).
Dishman on Morgan: “Molly will take some of our ball-handling duties this year. She had a good summer and is a quick learner. She plays hard on both ends of the floor. Molly is a very smart offensive player. We need her to play meaningful minutes early and often.”
Dishman on Vest: “Kinsleigh will see minutes this year as well. She just needs time to adjust to the speed and physicality of varsity basketball, but we think with time she will be very good. She is a very quick post player that can be very effective around the basket.”
Dishman on Garrison: “Kinzie is going to be a very fun player to watch as she progresses through her high school years. She has worked very hard on her game this off-season. She needs to play well on both ends of the floor for us.”
Dishman on Craig: “Anni is another tough-minded player. She is a great on-ball defender. She will only get better as we play this year. She can be very good for us if she comes in and works every day.”
Dishman on Fultz: “Coral just comes in every day, punches the time clock and goes to work. She is physical and does good things on both ends of the floor. She, like some of the other younger kids, just needs time to adjust to the game. She will be very good in the long run.”
These freshmen combined with the returning players have Dishman able to deploy a variety of lineups and play deep rotations.
“We have more depth than then any other year since I have been here,” Dishman said. “We have 10 or 11 kids that can and will play minutes this year. All of them saw plenty of action this past summer, so that will be a pleasant surprise. If our young kids adjust to the grind of practice and games for almost four months our team will benefit from this.”
Dishman will look for his seniors to help the new and returning players come together as a unit.
“We need great senior leadership; plain and simple,” Dishman said. “It starts in the locker room and goes to practice and games. We need to value the ball each possession and we need to be more physical team each night.”
Blue Eye travels to Mt. Vernon for a jamboree on Nov. 21 with the host Mountaineers and Cassville. They open the regular season Nov. 23 in the Verona Tip-Off Classic.
“I think every season you want to compete for a conference and district championship. We did both of those last season and came up short in both cases,” Dishman said. “What does a successful season look like? I would say most people would say if you win a conference and or a district championship that is a successful season, and in these days and times that is what everybody wants. I want our young ladies to be great people in the hallways, and be great players while they’re here for four years. We talk a lot about what will your footprint on the program look like? I hope when they leave under our coaching staff they are tough, independent young ladies, and they have taught the younger players how we do things here at Blue Eye.”
