By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
There’s a sense of momentum around Webb City’s girls basketball team after a 19-9 campaign in coach Grant Berendt’s first year on the sidelines––the most wins for the program since the 2013-14 season.
“For us to have some success in year one is a great building block in the road we’re trying to pave,” Berendt said. “It showed the girls what they can do and with that being said we started four sophomores, so we were relatively young in that regard. We played three freshmen in the mix as well. We were able to get some building blocks in place for what we wanted to build on and focus on for the future, for what people will think of when they think of Webb City girls basketball going forward.”
The Cardinals lost two seniors from last year’s team in Kirra Long and Jenna Schulz; Long suffered an ACL injury in December and is now set to play at William Jewell, while Schulz’s grit and toughness on the defensive end will be tough to replace.
Webb City’s returning group is led by those four sophomore starters from last year. Now juniors, the group features point guard Abby Sargent (1st team COC West), the versatile Addie Burns (1st team COC West), guard Whitley Keith (2nd team COC West), and inside presence Adalyn Maxwell.
Sargent averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.2 steals while also earning all district and all-area honors.
“She had some accolades at the end of the year, and they were all much deserved,” Berendt said. “She sets the table for us as far as the tempo that we try and play at, the toughness we try and have. She sees the floor well for us, has a capability of going off and scoring 20 and at the same time she’ll go get four or five assists. She was third in rebounding on the year for us and did really well from the free throw line. It if was a tight game and we had the ball in her hands, we knew we could get some points and extend that lead.”
Burns averaged 11.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.5 steals and can play every position on the floor; she also garnered all district and all-area honors.
“Offensively she can score in all three levels,” Berendt said. “It’s tough to stick a guard on her because then we can go down and post her up. If you stick a big on her she can shoot the 3 and take you off the dribble. We try to utilize her in a lot of different areas of the floor and she can guard a two guard through a post player as long as they’re not a massive 6-2 type player. She rebounds the ball well and she can be a point forward at times, rebound and bring it on up. She plays over the summer and is starting to get some college looks so her confidence is going up.”
Keith averaged 8.9 points, 3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.6 steals and plays as a two guard but can handle the point if needed.
“She’s our sharpshooter,” Berendt said. “She hit 49 3s last season and we’re looking to increase that and increase her percent but she’s also trying to become more than just a shooter so when teams try to take away space she can take them off the dribble. A really good defender for us that plays bigger than what she is.”
Adalyn Maxwell averaged 5.9 points and 5.4 rebounds and is one of three triplets on the team, along with Jocelyn and Kaelyn who will also factor in.
“She’s about 6-1 and she’s trying to get her fundamentals down more, she’s a big-time volleyball player and she’s a shot alterer at the rim,” Berendt said. “When we do get beat, she’s always there to try and obstruct the shot in some way. Late in the year, I’d say from February on, she was probably almost at a double-double in most games and she’s not one that demands the ball a lot. Good offensive rebounder and she knows where to go when the shot goes up. She got a lot of her points that way and then crashing the offensive glass on her own misses.”
Sophomores Kenzie Horn and Brecklynn Sargent (Abby’s younger sister) both got a varsity start last year and played a lot of varsity minutes throughout the year. Sargent averaged 3.6 points and 1.9 rebounds; both play as guards and can play 1-3.
Seniors Bailey Packard and Kylee Sargent (Abby’s older sister) will also be contributors.
“Bailey has spent a lot of time working on her game and trying to get her shot down so she can help us lengthen the floor offensively so teams can’t crowd our bigs,” Berendt said. “We’ve got six sisters on the team with the Maxwells and Sargents. Kylee is going to be an undersized post player for us. She’s really strong in the weight room. She can stretch to a four and knock down some shots.”
Berendt says he feels much better heading into year two at Webb City after getting a blueprint put in place. The team took another big step over the summer towards that end, he said.
“We’re nowhere near exactly where we want to be but we’re trending in that right direction,” he said. “Being new this last year, some teams may have overlooked us. I don’t think we’ll get that anymore. With kids being back and putting in the time, our goal is to get our program back to where we were in I guess those glory years of 2008 to 2014 when they went to I think four Final Fours with a state title in that mix and multiple district championships. We haven’t won a district title since 2013-14 and we’d love to get back and contend for one in the future.”
The Cardinals will host Carl Junction, Aurora and Neosho for a Nov. 18 jamboree. They’ll travel to the 29th Annual Freeman Lady Eagle Classic and Holiday Hoops in Rolla in December. Their first home game is Dec. 18 vs McDonald County.
