By Mark Spillane (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The 2019-20 season started off red hot for Willow Springs girls basketball. The Lady Bears began the year 7-1 before finishing on a 3-15 skid.
Despite the struggles down the stretch, Willow Springs gained plenty of experience that should help this year. The Lady Bears will need to replace Second-Team All-Conference selection Tessa Duddrige, who graduated in the spring.
“Tessa was the second leading scorer from last year team and was very tenacious on defense and averaged 1.9 steals per game. She also shot 83% from the free-throw line,” said Head Coach Judy Tilley.
Duddridge was one of four key pieces on last year’s team that graduated. The others are Darcy Poynter, Emily Scarbrough and Kenzie Cox.
Poynter was a three-point threat who averaged 3.9 points per game, while Scarbrough averaged 4.4 rebounds per contest.
Despite those losses, there is reason for optimism with one senior, four juniors and one sophomore set to lead the way for Willow in 2020-21.
The senior is Alyssa Von Allman, who returns after missing last season with an injury. She averaged 9.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game two years ago.
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“Alyssa was unable to play last year because of a knee injury,” Tilley said. “She came back this summer and proved that she will have a huge impact on our team. She plays hard all the time and never backs down from a battle.”
Selected as team captain, Von Allman is ready to be back.
“I am excited to see what this year brings. Everyone has a good mind set and we are willing to work hard to reach our goals,” Von Allman said.
The four juniors are Ashlyn Jones, Chloe Chafin, Liz Sheehan and Keena Lowe.
Jones proved to be the most prolific scorer of the group last year, averaging 12.5 points per game. She also averaged 2.5 assists per game.
“[She’s] a great floor general who is constantly looking to get her team involved. She is a very intelligent player that constantly wants to improve. She is one of the top guards in our conference,” Tilley said.
Jones is also a team captain this year.
“I am extremely excited to enter my junior year and start playing. I have very high expectations for myself and my teammates,” Jones said.
Lowe proved to be the top rebounder, averaging 7.9 rebounds per game.
“[Keena] is a strong post player that is continually improving her game,” Tilley said. “She does a great job of controlling the paint area and will not back down from anyone. She is also a great rebounder and will only make the guards jobs easier.”
Sophomore Rylee Scarbrough will also play a large role this season.
Overall, Coach Tilley says there’s a lot to be excited about going into the year.
“We are returning a lot of key players to this year’s team and we believe we are going to be competitive every night. With everything that is going on this year we are going to try to focus on continually getting better and play together to meet our goals,” Tilley said. “This is a great group of girls that are not afraid of working hard and we should be able to compete every night.”
The Lady Bears begin the year with a home game versus West Plains on Nov. 23.
