By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
El Dorado Springs enjoyed yet another successful season in 2025 and captured a fifth-straight district championship.
The Bulldogs finished with a 19-8 record, falling to eventual Class 3 state champion Fair Grove in the quarterfinals.
“I feel we met a lot of the expectations we had for ourselves, but didn’t reach our final goal,” longtime head coach Beau Swopes said. “We don’t have a lot of returners coming into the season, but the ones we have played in a lot of big games throughout last season.”
Heading into his 17th season at the helm, Swopes will look to a talented senior trio to lead the Bulldogs this season in McKinli Mays, Sage McCullough and Braylie Steward.
Mays, a 5-foot-7 guard, averaged 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.4 steals per contest last season.
Swopes on Mays: “Relentless on both ends of the floor. Has improved her outside shot and has the ability to put up some big numbers offensively.”
McCullough, a 5-foot-5 guard, posted 2.2 points, 1.1 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal per game as a junior.
Swopes on McCullough: “Played some big minutes for us last year, sees the floor really well and is a willing passer and can also hit the outside shot.”
Steward, a 5-foot-7 guard, averaged 3.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal last season.
Swopes on Steward: “Defensively can guard any position on the floor. Can hit the outside shot and does a great job of attacking.”
5-foot-7 junior Allie Thompson (1.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg) also returns for Eldo.
Swopes on Thompson: “Strong physical athlete that can play multiple positions and rebounds and finishes really well.”
Swopes also expects a strong freshman class to step in and make an impact this season.
“We have a large group of freshmen who will have to step in and play right away,” Swopes said. “The adjustment to varsity play from middle school is going to be a big leap, but they’ll have to adjust on the fly.”
Maci Walter, Jovi Payne, Kaysen Strauch, Paylan Mays and Mattie Dunn will all compete for varsity minutes.
“We return four players with high school basketball experience,” Swopes said. “Moving from JV to varsity is a big step up, and we will have to skip that step for quite a few girls. Our schedule is still tough, so it will be a lot of trial by fire, but I do believe our returning girls are great leaders and will help in preparing the underclassmen and getting them ready to play the way we expect them to.”
Despite the abundance of inexperience on the roster, Swopes’ expectations won’t change for his team heading into the winter campaign.
“Our expectations really don’t change year to year,” Swopes said. “We want to compete in every game and be playing our best basketball at the end of the season. We really like to pressure other teams on both ends of the floor. Defensively we will primarily play man-to-man defense, and on the offensive end we will look to push the tempo and attack the basket.”
Following a Nov. 17 jamboree at Lamar, El Dorado Springs opens its season Dec. 1 in the Clinton Lady Cardinal Invitational.
