A district championship appearance last season has this year’s Cassville girls basketball team hungry for more, and the Lady Wildcats will hope to achieve their goals under new management.
Clayton Bagby takes over the program, headed up by Reed Smith for just one season last year, that went 14-14, its first .500 season since 2017-2018, defeating East Newton and Mt. Vernon in district play before falling to Seneca in the championship, 50-22.
Bagby said though the Lady Wildcats return a number of solid players, they did lose about half of their scoring, provided by graduates riley Morris and Sharayah Seymour.
“We lost about 50 percent of scoring and rebounding,” he said. “We will need players to step up and knock down shots and make up for those losses. We want to be tough-minded, never quit, and team-first players. There will be a lot of parity in conference and district, so will need to bring it every day, improve everyday and hopefully put ourselves in a position to be competitive come districts and take advantage in the 50-50 games.”
Leading Cassville will be a pair of seniors in Marianne McCrackin and Ashhlynn Bryan.
“Marianne is a four-year starter at point guard that has worked to develop her outside game, as well as going to the basket,” Bagby said. “She should also cause trouble for opposing teams defensively. Ashlynn lettered her first three years and started last year. She is a hard worker that can shoot from the outside and should can disrupt on the defensive side.”
Behind the seniors will be a pair of juniors that contributed healthily to the district run last season.
“Madison Halterman and Pazlee Burbridge are both juniors this year that split starts last year,” Bagby said. “Madison loves being in the gym and continues to improve. We look for her to step up offensively this year. Pazlee provides length and can shoot from the outside. We will look to try and put her in spots defensively to take advantage of her length and athleticism.”
Bagby said other major contributors include Macie Walker, a senior letterman he said is smarty and has the ability to knock down shots, as well as sophomore Kyler Hayward, who will handle the point guard duties.
Senior Macie Barton and sophomores Hailie Gautney, Aleigha Bryan and Ellie Raemaker will also have chances to contribute.
“Our biggest strength is our athleticism,” Bagby said. “We have good athletes and will look to use that to play great defense and disrupt teams and try and create offense from it.”
The Lady Wildcats averaged 38.3 points per game last season and allowed 40.9. Cassville opened the season at home with a win on Nov. 21, defeating Pierce City, 31-24.
