In the wake of a remarkable run of success by the Class of 2017, the biggest question is what Montesano’s girls basketball team will do for an encore.
The Bulldog girls have put together a 48-0 league record since the 2013-14 season, earning a district championship, four regional appearances and a state berth along the way.
But the top six players from last year’s state-qualifying 19-6 club all graduated, leaving some to speculate that the Bulldogs might be undertaking a significant reconstruction project this season.
Monte coach Julie Graves isn’t among the speculators, however. Although conceding that this will be “a new team,” Graves believes the Bulldogs will remain a viable force within the Evergreen 1A circuit.
“The coaching staff has been pleasantly surprised at the amount of improvement we have seen in a short amount of time,” she said. “If we can sustain the excitement and energy (they’ve brought to practice), anything is possible. We have the pieces. Daily progression is the key.”
The Bulldogs open the season at Raymond on Tuesday.
Graves’ optimism is fueled by some reinforcements. Three seniors — forwards Samantha Stanfield and McKenna Miller and guard Hannah Hatcher — are returning to basketball after sitting out the past year or two.
The Bulldog coach is uncharacteristically refraining from projecting a starting lineup. But 5-foot-5 junior guard Lexi Lovell — the lone returnee to see significant action during the crunch time of games last season — seems a likely regular.
Stanfield was a part-time starter as a sophomore. Five other Bulldogs — 6-2 sophomore Zoe Hutchings, 5-8 Haylee Perkinson, 5-4 junior Glory Grubb, and 5-5 juniors Matti Ekerson and Katie Granstrom — swung between the JV and varsity rosters and saw enough action at the end of blowouts to earn varsity letters.
Senior Kaydee Mittleider and 5-10 freshman Zoee Lisherness round out the varsity.
Since many of the Bulldogs have excelled in other sports, Graves believes athleticism will be one of her team’s strengths.
“I feel that our team speed is good,” she added. “The kids are hustling and coachable. Those are good signs that we’re going to see improvement throughout the year.”
With no proven shooting standout on the roster, the Bulldogs could struggle to fill the scoring hole left by the graduation of record-setting post Jordan Spradlin (now participating in track at the University of Arizona). Graves also acknowledges that a lack of familiarity as a unit could hurt the team early.
“I think we’re fortunate that we have 11 games between now and our first league game,” she concluded.
Graves agrees with most of her counterparts that Elma is the league favorite.
Mindy McElliott and Leonard Barnes return as Monte assistants, with Sylvia Martin taking over the C squad.
