The Carl Junction girls basketball team captured its sixth straight district championship last winter.
Now, as the 2021-22 season arrives, the Bulldogs appear to have the pieces in place to potentially continue that impressive streak.
Carl Junction returns four starters and nearly its entire lineup from last year’s squad that went 18-9 and won a district title before falling to West Plains in the quarterfinal round of the Class 5 state tournament.
“It’s a fun group to coach,” Carl Junction coach Brad Shorter said. “They mesh really well together. Hopefully we can do some good things this year. The best thing about this group is they get along well and they practice hard. And I think we’re going to keep getting better.”
Junior guard Destiny Buerge is coming off a stellar sophomore season.
Buerge earned first-team all-conference, district player of the year and all-state recognition after averaging 24.6 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists per game last winter.
Buerge, a player who can shoot from the perimeter or drive to the hoop, will lead an experienced backcourt.
Also back for the Bulldogs are junior guards Hali Shorter and Klohe Burk and senior guard Ellie Lawson.
Hali Shorter averaged six points, four rebounds and three assists per game. showed the ability to knock down 3-pointers
Burk, who spent the second half of the season with the Bulldogs after transferring from College Heights, averaged nine points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal per game.
Perimeter shooting should be a strength of the Bulldogs. Buerge made 42 3-pointers last season, while Shorter hit 34 treys and Burk made 21.
Lawson also returns with plenty of varsity experience. She provides ball-handling and pressure defense on the perimeter. Shorter said Lawson has improved quite a bit.
Of course, the Bulldogs would have featured senior guard Jessa Hylton, but the former all-conference and all-district performer suffered a knee injury during the volleyball season that will wipe out her final season of prep hoops. Hylton averaged 10 points and two steals per game last winter.
“It’s tough losing Jessa,” Shorter said. “She did so many things well. We’ll have to have other kids take care of that void.”
In addition to his standout guards, Shorter expects big things from 6-foot-1 sophomore forward Kylie Scott.
Scott missed a large part of her freshman campaign due to a wrist injury. In 14 games, Scott averaged nine points and nine rebounds, earning all-district honors after the season. Shorter expects Scott to take her game to another level this season.
Other players to watch include senior Loren Lee and sophomores Hailey Merwin and Anna Burch.
Shorter noted there’s a lot to like about this year’s group.
“I think our guard play will be pretty solid,” Shorter said. “We can shoot it. And with Kylie, Anna and Loren inside, I think we have some strong post players. We should be able to play inside-out and outside-in at times.”
Shorter said he’s been pleased with what he’s seen in practice thus far, and added the expectations will be high this winter.
“Our goals are the same every year,” Shorter added. “We want to give ourselves a shot at a conference title and a district title. The biggest thing for us is to just get a little bit better everyday. That’s what we want to focus on. We know we need to improve defensively.”
The Bulldogs will begin the season by hosting their annual CJ Classic on Nov. 29. Carl Junction plays Neosho at 8:30 p.m. in the first round of the eight-team event.
