The Monett Lady Cubs have struggled to win games in recent years, coming fresh off a two-win season a year ago. They are far removed from an 18-6 record in 2010-11 and haven’t won more than four games in a season since that time.
“We’re still in the building phases of trying to turn things around here at Monett,” said second-year head coach Alyssa Kennedy. “Our program has a lot of really good kids who are driven to succeed and we’re really close to getting to where we want to be. I think we have the potential to surprise some people this year with our youth and excitement on the court.”
Their youth will be a key factor this season. With only three seniors on the roster, Kennedy will look to her skilled underclassmen to contribute on the varsity level.
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“We have a very talented freshman class in which several kids will compete for time on JV and varsity by the middle of the year. We’re going to be different than last year because we’ll have some speed and really be able to get up and defend people in the full court. I’m looking forward to the challenge of developing young kids and getting them to have the skills necessary to play on the varsity level by the end of the season. “
Monett will return a pair of quality senior guards in Emily Krueger (5’7”) and Sarah Childress (5’6”). Look for them to improve upon Monett’s minus-five turnover margin from last season.
“Both Emily and Sarah started for us last year,” Kennedy said, “and had to fulfill a lot of roles in defending the best players on other teams, scoring, and handling the ball. I’m excited to give them the opportunity to not do as much this year and be able to get better at doing one or two things rather than everything. They are both very vocal and I know they each want to have a great senior year at Monett and are willing to do whatever it takes for that to happen.”
Sophomores Alyssa Williams (5’6”) and Katie Schmidt (5’7”) each played significant minutes as freshmen last year. They’ll carry that experience into this season and be asked to contribute more minutes and more scoring from the perimeter.
Junior forward Jordann Pugh (5’7”) split time between JV and varsity last season as a sophomore. Coach Kennedy describes Pugh as a, “really tough kid who really loves to play defense.” Look for Pugh to be a leader from a mentality perspective.
Kaesha George, Ashley Kurima, Kelsey Dalton and Abby Patton will step in as incoming freshmen with a chance to compete for varsity minutes.
“These four were a part of a 13-win season at the 8th grade level and know how to win,” said Kennedy. “I’m looking forward to bringing in an attitude of winning to our high school program this year.”
