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ANDERSON — The youth movement is in full swing for the McDonald County Lady Mustangs basketball team in 2022-23. That's good news and bad news. The bad news means the Lady Mustangs will have to overcome some challenges that await all teams that rely on young players. The good news, however, means the future is bright f o r g i rl s b a s k e t b a l l i n McDonald County. "The thing is if we can keep building, there's a very, very bright future," s a i d h e a d c o a c h S e a n Crane. "We've got talent. Just because we're young d o e s n' t m e a n we c a n' t surprise people this year. … We've just got to keep build- ing each day." Seniors Megan Elwood and Analisa Ramirez are back as the only upperclass- men with playing experi- ence. Elwood (3.6 points per game) is a three-year varsity player and a holdover from the Lady Mustangs' district title team in 2020-21. "She's a key player for us," Crane said. "She's a good leader. Megan's a good kid. You can take a hundred of Megan and you'd be all right." R a m i r e z , m e a nw h i l e, proved to be a surprise for the Lady Mustangs last year. As a junior, she was projected as a junior varsity and practice player but moved up to the varsity and played well as a role player off the bench, Crane said. Senior Alexis Abbott was lost for the season with an injury. Junior Carlee Cooper (3.6 ppg) looks to lead the Lady Mustangs' backcourt in her third year as a varsity starter. Cooper also is a holdover from the district championship team two years ago. "She's going to be a real important player for us," Crane said of Cooper. Junior guard Anna Clark- son (5.2 ppg) showed last year as a sophomore that she can knock down the outside shot and score in bunches. But the Lady Mustangs will be asking more from her this year. "We're going to need her to step up defensively," Crane said. "She's a real important young lady." J u n i o r K a t e l y n n Townsend saw action in varsity and JV games a year ago. "She's not very big. She's 5-foot-2 on a stack of books, but she plays hard and is a good athlete," Crane said. "She's tough as nails." Junior Corina Holland also will get some minutes. "She's just scrappy," Crane said of Holland. Carlie Martin, a freshman, also will play some guard. "She's a good athlete that will be a pretty darn good player for us by the time it's said and done," Crane said. At the forwards, the Lady Mustangs will rely on a plethora of athletes after the loss of forwards Addy Leach (10 ppg, graduation) and Samara Smith (12 ppg, transfer). S e n i o r s E l w o o d a n d Ramirez will play a role there. Sophomores Rylee Ander- son and Roslynn Huston don't have any varsity expe- rience, but both have size and height. "They're going to have to step up," Crane said. Jacie Frencken, a star junior softball player, will have a chance to help. Freshman Jamie Washam also is in the mix. "She's a very athletic young lady," Crane said of Washam. "She's going to be a good one. She just needs some experience." 2B McDonald County Press Thursday, December 8, 2022 W i n t e r S p o r t S B & M TIRE & MUFFLER SERVICE See us for all your Tire & MUFFLER needs! GO MUSTANGS! 845-3913 • 845-3566 West 76 Hwy • Anderson Missouri ANDERSON — McDonald County boys basketball coach Brandon Joines and his expe- rienced Mustangs are eager to stampede their way into the 2022-23 season. And even though they've played only one game to date, that one game was against a bigger school and resulted in a big win for the Mustangs and could prove to be a harbinger of good things to come. "Our focus coming into this year is being improved on the defensive end," Joines said in the wake of his team's 61-59 win at Joplin on Nov. 22. "We don't have a huge sample size, but we do have one game in which I feel like we did a pretty good job of that." He added, "Against those solid teams in our area, especially the biggest dog in southwest Missouri in terms of school size, for us to get that win was huge. We were all real excited and now we just need to carry that over as we go through the season." The Mustangs, who won the Big 8 West and finished 12-14 last season, losing to Webb City in the first round of the district playoffs, will be led this season by a pair of returning starters in 5-9 senior guards Cross Dowd and Sterling Woods. "Those guys bring a lot of varsity experience to the floor as well as a lot of lead- ership," said Joines. Dowd, a second-team All-Big 8 selection as a junior, averaged 12 points and almost three rebounds a game for the Mustangs. "Cross has an excellent shooting touch and is very creative offensively," said Joines. "And defensively, he is very intelligent." Woods, the other half of McDonald County's danger- ous backcourt duo, averaged eight points and three assists per game last season. "Sterling's got great court awareness and can get the ball to the other guys, which helps them to be successful on offense," Joines said. "He can score and distribute the ball and continues making improvements in his defen- sive play." Toby Moore, a 6-4 junior center, is expected to play a valuable role in the paint for the Mustangs on both ends of the floor. "Toby Moore is going to be an important piece in the middle for us because of his size," his coach said. "We've got to make sure we can keep him out of foul trouble and functioning at a high level for us in the middle." Starting next to Moore will be 6-3 junior forward Josh Pacheco. "He's got to improve on the defensive end," said Joines, "and offensively, he just needs to become the active scoring threat we need him to be and that he can be." Starting at the other forward spot will be 6-1 junior defensive stopper Destyn Dowd, the younger brother of Cross Dowd. "Destyn Dowd's a defen- sive guy who mostly is going to be our guy to try to lock some people down when we get to that point in the game," said Joines. "He plays with a lot of hustle and grit." McDonald County's athlet- icism won't end with the starting five. Joines said the Mustangs need to get contri- butions from several capable players when their names are called throughout the game. "Off the bench, we have Dalton McClain, who's a solid scoring threat," the coach said of the 5-9 senior guard. "He can shoot the ball well, and we just need his defense to match his play on the offen- sive end. He'll see his minutes increase if he'll do that." Weston Gordon, a 6-0 senior forward, should also provide a spark off the bench for the Mustangs. "Weston's just another hustle and grit guy who's going to get after it," said Joines. "He always keeps his motor running. That's how he'll play himself into more playing time." Jaxson Harrell, a 5-9 senior guard, will also be counted on to help the Mustangs off the bench. McDonald County fans will once again be very familiar with the names on this year's roster since many of these athletes compete in other sports at MCHS. "Getting kids who play other sports, that have that ability to compete at high levels in those sports like they've done, just makes it more comfortable for us in competitive situations," Joines said. "We're all about the competitive nature they build throughout their high school experience." He added, "Our experience in big games and our athlet- icism are our two biggest strengths." When asked if there was an area of concern in McDonald County's game as the team wades into the season, the coach said, "We can always get better defensively. Even though we saw improvement and accomplished some of our goals in that first game, it doesn't mean we're anywhere near where we want to be to really compete. Our goal, obviously, is to win a confer- ence title and then a district title and beyond, and if we're going to do those things, we have to always be focused on the defensive end and let our offensive execution flow from that. We did a good job of executing offensively and showing patience and moving the ball in that first game, and if we can keep that rolling, good things will happen and we'll be able to compete with anybody in the area." Bennett Horne McDonald County Press bhorne@nwaonline.com Defensive-Minded Mustangs Bring Experience To The Hardwood Mustang ClassiC Mustang Arena, Anderson Dec. 15-17 Thursday's Games Game 1: Springdale, Ark. vs. Nevada, 3:30 p.m. Game 2: Richmond vs. Van Buren, Ark., 5 p.m. Game 3: McDonald County vs. FS Southside, Ark., 6:30 p.m. Game 4: Glendale vs. Carl Junction, 8 p.m. Friday's Games Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 3:30 p.m. Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 5 p.m. Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6:30 p.m. Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8 p.m. Saturday's Games Seventh Place: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 10 a.m. Consolation Finals: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 11:30 a.m. Third Place: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 1 p.m. Championship: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 2:30 p.m. MCDonalD County Boys BasketBall sCheDule DATE OPPONENT LEVEL TIME Nov. 22 at Joplin 9/JV/V W, 61-59 Dec. 6 Springfield Hillcrest 9/JV/V 4:30 p.m. Dec. 8-10 at Battle at the Ridge V TBA Dec. 13 at Willard 9/JV/V 4:30 p.m. Dec. 15-17 Mustang Classic V TBA Dec. 28-30 at Neosho Holiday Classic V TBA Jan. 2 Carl Junction 9/JV/V 4:30 p.m. Jan. 3 Webb City 9/JV/V 4:30 p.m. Jan. 5 at Carthage 9/JV/V 4:30 p.m. Jan. 10 Providence Academy JV/V 6 p.m. Jan. 13 Seneca* 9/JV/V 5 p.m. Jan. 16 at Neosho JV/V 6 p.m. Jan. 16-19 Mt. Vernon Freshman Tourn. 9 TBA Jan. 24 at Cassville* 9/JV/V 5 p.m. Jan. 27 at Lamar* 9/JV/V 5 p.m. Jan. 28 at Cassville JV Tourn. JV TBA Jan. 31 at Strafford 9/JV/V 4:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at East Newton* 9/JV/V 5 p.m. Feb. 7 Monett* 9/JV/V 5 p.m. Feb. 10 at Nevada* 9/JV/V 4:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at Marshfield 9/JV/V 5 p.m. Feb. 17 Mount Vernon 9/JV/V 5 p.m. Feb. 25-March 4 District Tourn V TBA * Big 8 West Conference MCDonalD County Boys BasketBall RosteR NUMBER NAME GRADE HEIGHT POSITION 1 Jaxson Harrell 12 5-9 G 2 Dalton McClain 12 5-9 G 4 Josh Pacheco 11 6-3 F 5 Cross Dowd 12 5-9 G 10 Sterling Woods 12 5-9 G 15 Destyn Dowd 11 6-1 F 22 Weston Gordon 12 6-0 F 30 Toby Moore 11 6-4 C SEE BOYS BASKETBALL PAGE 8B Graham Thomas McDonald County Press gthomas@nwaonline.com Future Is Now For Lady Mustangs laDy Mustang ClassiC Mustang Arena, Anderson Dec. 12-14 Monday's Games Game 1: Carl Junction vs. Gentry, Ark., 3:30 p.m. Game 2: Farmington vs. Springdale, Ark., 5 p.m. Game 3: McDonald County vs. FS Southside, 6:30 p.m. Game 4: Webb City vs. Bentonville West, 8 p.m. Tuesday's Games Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 3:30 p.m. Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 5 p.m. Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6:30 p.m. Game 8: Winenr Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8 p.m. Wednesday's Games Seventh Place: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 3:30 p.m. Consolation Finals: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 5 p.m. Third Place: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 6:30 p.m. Championship: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 8 p.m. SEE GIRLS BASKETBALL PAGE 8B BENNETT HORNE/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Freshman Jamie Washam is expected to play a large role this season for the McDonald County varsity girls basketball team. GRAHAM THOMAS/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Sterling Woods of McDonald County drives around a Carthage defender during a game last January.