By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
With some early season injuries last year, the Webb City girls basketball team got off to a slow start and lost five in a row at one point in December. But the Cardinals managed a strong finish with four wins in their final five games en route to a 12-13 record.
“Hopefully that’s something we can build on,” said head coach Lance Robbins.
The Cardinals graduated four seniors from that team and Robbins said each of them made some significant contributions. The list includes Kenzie Robbins, who was an All-District player in Class 5 District 6.
Webb City has finished as the district runner up four of the last five seasons.
As they look to get over the hump this winter, the Cardinals return three full-time starters and a few others who logged varsity time last season. The three returning starters are senior Kate Brownfield, who earned second team honors in the Central Ozark Conference as a junior and was an All-District player; sophomore Sami Mancini, an honorable mention COC player; and junior Mia Robbins. Senior Izzy Lopez also started off-and-on last year.
Mancini, a 6-foot-5 center, is the team’s leading returning scorer after she averaged 11 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as a freshman.
“She can do a lot of different things and can affect the game on both ends of the floor,” Robbins said. “She averaged a double-double as a freshman and we’re looking for her to continue to build on that this year. She’s getting several colleges showing interest in her and we look for her to continue to have a great career.”
Brownfield averaged nine points per game last year and added five rebounds, two assists and 1.3 steals. Robbins averaged three assists, 2.2 steals, two rebounds and two points per game, and Lopez added three points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
“Our two seniors, Kate and Izzy, have done a great job with leadership for us since the end of last season,” Robbins said. “Both had really good summers and have put in extra time in the gym to get better. Kate was all-conference last year and I feel like she can be an all-conference player again this year. We definitely want her to provide us some more scoring and I think that’s something she can do. Izzy will be a leader on the floor and will handle the ball at the point guard spot and play off the ball some. We’ll look for her to make our defense go for us.”
“Mia Robbins played some point last year and a little bit off the ball,” he said. “We need her to look to be more aggressive offensively for us and continue to be somebody that makes good decisions with the basketball on the offensive end.”
Guards Kirra Long, a sophomore, and Malorie Stanley, a junior, also bring some varsity experience to the team. Both averaged two points, a steal and better than a rebound per game, and Long also averaged an assist per game.
“Malorie has the potential to be somebody that can provide us with more scoring this year,” Robbins said. “She just has a knack and ability to score the basketball so something we’re looking for this year out of her is to give us a little bit more scoring. Kirra really worked hard in the offseason and has developed her game. We’re also looking for her to give us a little more punch on the offensive end. She’s a solid defender. Those two will definitely have a big part in what we do this year.”
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Junior Dawsyn Decker is also expected to provide some quality varsity minutes.
Robbins said he expects the Cardinals to be especially solid defensively and they’ll use their team speed and athleticism to speed games up while playing more aggressively and pressing.
“I think this group will be able to do that and is excited about the opportunity to do that,” he said. “Hopefully causing people problems defensively will be part of our identity, as well as our overall toughness. This summer we went to a couple different camps and summer leagues and I thought one of the things our girls did was show toughness to fight through some adversity. Hopefully that’s something that will carry over into the season.”
Webb City will host Aurora and Carl Junction for a jamboree on Nov. 17 and is set to open the regular season Dec. 1 in the Lady Tigers Invitational at Carthage where the Cardinals will face El Dorado Springs, Bentonville and Olathe East. The first home game is Dec. 8 against Miller.
The Cardinals will compete in the McDonald County tournament in December and the Logan-Rogersville tournament in January. Clever, which they’ll face at Rogersville, and Seneca are two new opponents to the schedule.
