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GOOD LUCK Mustangs! La Ofi cina Habla Español 204 S Jesse James Rd Pineville, MO 417-223-3232 wsg@geedinglaw.com 6C McDonald County Press Thursday, November 29, 2018 W i n t e r S p o r t S p r e v i e W A new era in McDonald County Lady Mustang basketball will begin this season under the direction of coach Chris Kennedy. Kennedy comes to McDonald County with a vast amount of experience, mostly boys' teams at several area schools before he returned home to Wheaton to coach the girls' team. "I have lived around this area and grew up knowing about the great girls' basketball here in the '80s and I hope to find that greatness again," Kennedy said. "The players will have to buy into a new system and all the other things that come with a coaching change. The whole system will be changed — from Kennedy Takes Reins For Lady Mustangs RICK PECK/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Senior members of the 2018-2019 McDonald County High School Lady Mustang basketball team are (left to right) Mattie Leach, Alexa Kitlen and Samantha Frazier. be a challenge early, but hopefully there will be some guys step in and fill that void for us throughout the year." Fields said the Mustangs strug- gled with turnovers and free-throw shooting last year, something they have been working on since practices began on Oct. 29. "We will have to shoot better from the foul line and take better care of the ball to be successful," Fields said. "I think we handle the ball better this year and we should be able to score. We will have to rebound and play defense better than we did last year." McDonald County dropped out of the season-opening Carthage tourna- ment and will not open the season until Dec. 4 when the Mustangs host Providence Academy. Th e M u s ta n gs h ad pl a n n e d to return to the Jay tournament this year, but a change of tournament dates made it impossible for McDon- ald County to attend the tournament. McDonald County will play in just two tournaments prior to districts, including the Battle on the Ridge on Dec. 6-8 at Pea Ridge and the Neosho Holiday Classic on Dec. 27-29. McDonald County will compete in the Big 8 Conference West Divi- sion along with Nevada, Lamar, East Newton, Monett, Seneca and Cass- ville. Fields said his goals for the season are the same as last year. "Our expectations are always the same and very simple," Fields said. "We want our players to commit every day to getting better." Varsity/JV/9th Girls BasketBall Date Opponent Level Time Nov. 26-29 .................... at Carl Junction Tournament ...................................... 9th ...................................TBA Dec. 4 ..............................................Providence .................................................. Varsity/ ...........................6 p.m. Dec. 6- 8............................... at Lady Eagle Classic ......................................... Varsity ................................TBA Dec. 10 .............................................. Gravette ...............................................Varsity/JV/9th ................4:30 p.m. Dec. 11 ............................................. Webb City .............................................Varsity/JV/9th ......................5 p.m. Dec. 13 ........................................... at Carthage ............................................Varsity/JV/9th ......................5 p.m. Jan. 4 ................................................ at Aurora ................................................. Varsity/JV ..........................6 p.m. Jan. 8 .......................................... at Carl Junction ........................................Varsity/JV/9th ......................5 p.m. Jan 11 .................................................. Seneca ................................................... Varsity/JV ..........................6 p.m. Jan. 15 ................................................ Monett ................................................Varsity/JV/9th ......................5 p.m. Jan. 17 .........................................at East Newton ............................................ Varsity/JV ..........................6 p.m. Jan. 22 ............................................ at Cassville ............................................... Varsity/JV ...........................5 p.m Jan. 25 ............................................. at Neosho................................................. Varsity/JV ...........................5 p.m Jan. 26.................................. at Cassville JV Festival ............................................ JV .....................................TBA Jan. 28-Feb.2 .......................at Seneca Invitational ...................................... Varsity/JV ..............................TBA Feb. 4 .................................................. Lamar .................................................... Varsity/JV ..........................6 p.m. Feb. 8 ...............................................at Nevada ..............................................Varsity/JV/9th ......................5 p.m. Feb. 11 ........................................... TBA East Div .............................................. Varsity/JV ..........................6 p.m. Feb. 14 .............................................Mt. Vernon .............................................Varsity/JV/9th ......................6 p.m. Feb. 19 ..................................................Joplin ..................................................Varsity/JV/9th ......................5 p.m. Feb. 25-Mar.1 ........................ District Tournament .......................................... Varsity ................................TBA Rick Peck SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS v Continued on next page CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4C HOOPS