The De Soto girls basketball program is devoting its season to the memory of one of its greatest players.
Kim Mahn wore No. 40 while leading the Dragons to back-to-back state championships in 1988-1989. In 2018, Mahn’s No. 40 uniform became the first in school history – boys or girls – to be retired. Mahn died in April following a 20-year battle with multiple sclerosis. Every girls player at De Soto from seventh through 12th grade will wear a shirt in pregame warmups with Mahn’s name and number on the back.
The Dragons, 6-19 last year, opened the new season Nov. 21 with a 42-22 home loss to St. Pius X. De Soto is hosting the eighth annual Fountain City Classic this week. The girls semifinals are Friday and the championship is Saturday at 4 p.m. The Lancers are the No. 1 seed while the Dragons are No. 7.
Trista Grobe led De Soto last season with 12.6 points per game and was named to the all-Jefferson County Activities Association large-schools second team. Grobe graduated this spring, leaving senior guard Jami Smith as the Dragons’ only returning all-conference (honorable mention) player. Smith averaged 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per outing last season.
Joining Smith in De Soto’s starting lineup are junior guard Ella DeClue, senior guard Morgan Broombaugh and senior forwards Monica Broombaugh and Kennedy Mertens. The Broombaugh twins accounted for a combined five points and eight rebounds per game last season.
De Soto head coach Sam Rauls said the Dragons don’t have a true, established sixth player off the bench.
“We have many girls who can contribute in many different ways and at different times throughout the year,” said Rauls, who enters his eighth year. “We will go nine to 11 deep and all girls will contribute.”
Rauls said his team will adjust to the flow of the game at both ends of the floor.
“We of course want to set the tempo but are also not afraid to change what we are doing based on the play of the game,” Rauls said.
De Soto, Festus and Hillsboro, all in the JCAA large-schools division, once again will compete in Class 5 District 1 for the postseason. Windsor was moved from District 1 to District 5. Cape Girardeau Notre Dame is the defending District 1 champion.
“(The JCAA) will be very competitive again this year and no matter what anyone says, until you can beat the defending champs (Perryville), you have to give them the edge going into this year,” Rauls said. “Our district is very tough and competitive, but we won’t back down.”
MVP leads Tigers
For three years, Festus senior Josie Allen has stood out for the Tigers. The last two seasons, Allen was named the most valuable player in the JCAA large-schools division, splitting the honor last year with Kyla Schnurbusch of Perryville.
Each year, Allen has scored more points than the year before while leading Festus to higher win totals: nine in 2019-2020; 10 in 2020-2021 and 15 last season (15-8). But there’s one item missing from Allen’s impressive resume: winning a district championship. Festus lost to Sikeston in the Class 5 District 1 quarterfinals a year ago.
If Allen matches her scoring pace of the past two seasons, she’ll surpass 1,000 points for her career sometime in 2023. Last season, she led the Tigers in most statistical categories, including points per game (15.9), 3-point baskets (39) and free throws (63). She paced Festus with 22 points in a season-opening 54-45 victory over St. Clair on Nov. 21.
Senior shooting guard Mya Courtois and junior Ciara McDonald are full-time starters alongside Allen, and sophomore guard Delaney Schmitt, sophomore guard/forward Elizabeth Skaggs and freshman forward Alyzah Scaggs will rotate in and out of the starting lineup. Courtois averaged 7.3 points and 2.3 assists and was all-JCAA honorable mention last year.
This is McDonald’s first season as a starter and head coach Steve McFarland said she’s a tremendous athlete and competitor.
“We are expecting to be a better perimeter-shooting team with quick post players who can come outside also,” said McFarland, who took over as head coach in 2019. “Defensively, we will be quick and aggressive (and put) lots of pressure on the ball.”
Hawks look for continued climb
Like Allen at Festus, head coach Andrew Hubbard has guided Hillsboro girls basketball to increasing success.
In 2019-2020, Hubbard’s first year at the helm, the Hawks were 3-21. The next season the W’s doubled to six, and in 2022 almost doubled again to 10-15.
Junior forward Kaylee Hilton, recently named the JCAA softball player of the year, was a first-team JCAA large-schools selection on the hardwood in 2022 after leading the Hawks with 12.7 points per game. She went to the free-throw line 175 times, making 108 (61 percent).
An all-conference honorable mention player last year, junior guard Bailey Scallet averaged 8.7 points and led the team with more than three assists per game. Junior guard Madelyn Shelby and senior center Dyllan Day are starters as well. In 13 games last season, Day averaged 10 points and almost eight rebounds. Freshman Kyra Matlock controls the Hillsboro offense at point guard.
Chloe Hicks, Ashley Hilton, Kali Walker, Shaye Holland, Avery Vaughn, Kaycie Malone and Abigail Moore will all get minutes for the Hawks.
“I would say we don’t have a traditional sixth player,” Hubbard said. “We have a deeper bench this season than we’ve had in the past and I feel our starting lineup may change depending on matchups because we’re so deep.
“We’re going to rely heavily on all our players this season if we want to be successful. We will need Matlock and Walker to handle the ball (and) Shelby, Holland and Ashley Hilton to be defensive specialists. Hicks, Vaughn, Malone and Moore (will) get us rebounds and inside scoring.”
Hillsboro drew the No. 4 seed for the Fountain City Classic and played Northwest (No. 5) on Monday, after the Leader deadline.
Seniors lead the way for Owls
With senior starters Reagan Daly, Peyton Broderick, Maddy Mancuso and Abby Holland, Windsor has one of the most experienced teams in the JCAA, along with some new-found depth.
“We have a steady group of (six) juniors joining the varsity team this year,” head coach Kim Schmidt said. “They all have the opportunity to take that sixth-man spot and eat minutes each night.”
Daly, a guard, enters her fourth season on the varsity and led the Owls with 9.7 points per game and 35 3-point baskets last season, good enough to earn second-team all-conference honors.
“Reagan has continued to mature in her role as a leader and a voice on the floor,” Schmidt said. “She has become a more complete player on both ends of the floor.”
Holland and Mancuso give the Owls a solid presence in the post, and both should average around seven or eight points and rebounds with slight upticks from last year’s numbers.
“They are both versatile players and can come out on the perimeter as well,” Schmidt said.
Broderick helps set the tone with her work ethic and willingness to do the little things, Schmidt said.
“She puts her team in the best possible position to be successful,” said Schmidt, who begins her eighth season as the Owls head coach.
Windsor finished 13-12 last year, its first winning season since 2014-2015. The Owls have moved from Class 5 District 1 to a western-oriented Class 5 District 5 that includes all three high schools from the state capital (Jefferson City, Capital City and Helias), along with Pacific, Rockwood Summit, Union and Washington.
“We would like to improve on our season record from last year,” Schmidt said. “We would like to finish with a winning record and compete for a conference title.”