BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com
Jalbert: Injuries may pose challenge for Lady Trojans
The Southwest girls basketball team takes the No. 8 seed into the 10th Annual Southwest Holiday Girls Tournament next week, which features eight teams from three states.
Destiny Jalbert, Southwest girls basketball coach, said the excitement for the tournament is high.
“This is my fifth year as the girls head coach, and the diversity of competition that our Athletic Director Kenny Ferguson has worked on building makes this a great tournament. We have a team from Arkansas, one from Oklahoma and six teams from Missouri that will be competing.”
Jalbert said injuries have been a challenge for Southwest this season, and they will continue to be.
“At this point in the season, the Lady Trojans are still hoping to get a game with each team member healthy and on the roster,” she said. “We have yet to play a game with all eight of our team members able to participate. We should have everyone back by the tournament and the girls are excited.”
Through those challenges, Jalbert said Southwest has continued to rise to the calling.
“We have taken a few hits this season with injuries and losses, but our girls keep fighting and working,” she said. “That is something that cannot be taught. They have a desire to improve and are willing to sweat and push to get there. That is what I want to see continue during the tournament.
“One of our captains, Jaretsi Quintanilla, had a quote on the board. It said, ‘It’s not how hard you hit, it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.’” Southwest faces No. 1 Gentry (Ark.) at 1 p.m. in the opening round on Dec. 27. The Lady Pioneers have won the tournament the last two years.
“Gentry will be tough for the first round,” Jalbert said. “They have returned all but their best player and leading scorer. They have a lot of experience returning, and we are working on building that, so it should be an interesting game.”
Other Dec. 27 games include: No. 4 Billings against No. 5 McAuley oat 2:30 p.m.; No. 2 Cassville against No. 7 East Newton at 4 p.m.; and No. 3 Commerce (Okla.) against No. 6 Wheaton at 5:30 p.m.
Each team is guaranteed three games. Winners’ bracket semifinals are at 1 and 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 28, and the championship game is at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 29. Consolation bracket games are held prior to the winners’ bracket contests.
The Lady Wildcats have reach the championship game of the tournament two years in a row, falling to Gentry both times.
Clayton Bagby, Cassville girls basketball coach, said no matter the history, the Lady Wildcats have to focus on themselves.
“Obviously you want to win the tournament, but where we are right now, we are going with the old slogan ‘take it one day/game at a time,’” he said. “We have been very competitive this year, and I think the other teams respected that in seeding, but with our youth and somewhat limited varsity experience, it’s very important for us to focus on improvement, getting better every day and playing a complete game on both ends of the court.”
Bagby said the matchup difficulty against the Lady Patriots exemplifies the team’s mantra.
“This will be a tough matchup for the seeds and a reason we can’t look forward in the tournament,” he said. “East Newton has three returning senior starters (one All-Conference returner) and were on the wrong side of a game ending buzzer beater that probably kept them from a much higher seed. We will have to show up ready to compete to give ourselves a chance to win.”
To find success, Bagby said the Lady Wildcats have to be proficient in the basics.
“For us, taking care of the ball is priority number one at this point,” he said. “We’ve given teams a lot of extra opportunities this year on unforced errors, or maybe trying to make a great play instead of an easy play. I would also like to see us get more aggressive going to the basket on offense and making the defense work harder.”
A request for comment from Wheaton Coach Jessica Dermott was not returned by presstime.