Junction City coach Henry Harrell is hoping for a big turnaround this season for a girls’ basketball team that went winless in conference play a year ago. The Lady Dragons, who opened the season Monday at Crossett, return eight seniors from a squad that went 4-18.
“The goal is to compete for the district championship. That’s our goal,” said Harrell.
The roster is led by seniors Karla Castillo, Yazmin Glosson, Rhianna Henry, Kalisha Shaw, Taylor Steward, Bria Watson, Marshayla Heard and Shacristyia Williams. The juniors are Kealey Hunter, Nehema Jones and Akeelah Reddick with sophomores Jordan Evans, Keymiah Moore and Zyhon Smith and freshman McKenzie Flowers.
“We’ve been looking pretty good,” said Harrell. “Guard play should be a whole lot better than it was last year. We’re looking for big things from our guards with Bria Watson. I think our two underclassmen guards will help us a lot - Keymiah Moore and McKenzie Flowers.
“We’ll be better in the post area with Kalisha Shaw and Shacristyia Williams And we should have a stronger bench than we’ve had in the past. We should be better all around.”
Harrell said guard play will be the key to the season. Defensively, the Lady Dragons will focus on halfcourt defense with the occasional press.
“We probably will play a bit more man than we’ve been playing in the past,” said Harrell, who said he’ll likely start four guards.
“We should be a fun team to watch this year. Hopefully the fans will come out and watch us play.”