SPRINGDALE — Jasper coach Deborah Crawford couldn’t feel better about the players she has playing for her this season.
The Lady Pirates, who went 14-14 last season and advanced to the Class 1A regionals, have one returning starter in junior Laken Smith, who averaged 14 points and eight rebounds per game.
Crawford, who said the strength of her team will be its overall quickness, said senior Charlie Smalley and junior guard LacyVillines will provide valuable minutes this year.
“We like to run quite a bit, that’s kind of our thing,” said Crawford, whose team is already 6-0. “We handle the ball really well, our girls don’t really panic in situations.”
The Kingston Lady Yellowjackets, who have reached the Class 1A State Championship game two straight years, are the obvious favorites in the conference.
Kingston, 33-8 last season, returns two starters in guards Lindsay David and Brooke Poole, who each averaged about 10 points per game.
“That’s all they talk about, wanting to be back at Hot Springs this year,” Kingston coach Greg Poole said in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “That motivates them every day in practice. They come to the gym ready to work.”
One of the biggest surprises this season is the absence of Fayetteville Christian, which decided in August it wouldn’t field a team because of lack of participation with only fi ve players.
“It’s extremely disappointing; we had a couple of girls transfer to Springdale Har-Ber and we didn’t have enough players to play,” Fayetteville Christian athletic director Brad Jones said. “It’s unfortunate. We thought we were going to have everybody back. With that happening, we went from a state tournamenttype team to no team.”
Sports, Pages 8 on 11/11/2009
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