Two seniors to make big impact this season
Despite what some might call a subpar record for the Maumelle Lady Hornets in 2016-2017, the team saw improvement throughout the season, as well as this offseason. The Lady Hornets finished last season with an overall record of 5-21, going 3-13 in conference play, but lost many of those matchups by single digits, even pushing Harrison to the brink before Maumelle’s first-round exit of the conference tournament. Third-year head coach William Rountree said he hopes the Lady Hornets will improve on both sides of the ball and pull out some more victories this upcoming season. “We’ve got to win more games; it’s pretty simple. We had a lot of single-digit losses last year, and our league is really tough,” he said. “That blended conference is really good, [and] the 5A-West is really good. We hope we’re better in all phases. We hope we’re a little better defensively, certainly better offensively in terms of our ability to shoot the basketball.” Rountree added that Maumelle needs to also cut down on turnovers and find ways to pull out close games. The Lady Hornets return three starters this season who will see significant action. Senior forward McKenzie Smith, an allconference three-year starter who led the team in rebounds, gives the team great support inside, while senior forward Jayla King, an allconference honorable mention and three-year starter who is the No. 1 scoring option, gives the team versatility with her play on the post and on the perimeter, the coach said. Junior point guard Kayla Freeman started last season as a sophomore and will look to be a key component to Maumelle’s experience. Rountree said the team will heavily rely on the two seniors. “McKenzie Smith is our inside presence, and she’s a very, very good athlete. She’s a really good volleyball player, [and] she’s a great rebounder. We need to get her finishing around the basket area a little more to give us a little more point production consistently,” he said. “Jayla’s kind of an inside-outside player.” Rountree added that junior forward Alundra McMiller started some last year and should be in line to start this season. He also said sophomore forward Jordan Cribbs and senior forward Alex Cormier, who had a great preseason, will likely see meaningful minutes down low as well. On the perimeter, the Lady Hornets will see Freeman run the point and King play her normal inside-out game, but the point production from distance will likely come from senior guard Kendra Woods-Garmon, who started some last year, and McMiller. Rountree said Woods-Garmon and McMiller are the team’s two best outside shooters. He also said sophomore guard Lashundra Watson, senior guard Kortney Johnson and a host of younger players will have opportunities to get in the game often. “I’ve got more players as far as numbers than they’ve ever had here,” Rountree said. “We’ve just kind of got to sort through them as we get to playing, as far as who fits and what role and what have you.” Along with the numbers Maumelle has on the bench, Rountree said, the team’s personality will be an advantage for this season. “I think these girls want to do well, and we’ve got to ride on the backs of those two seniors who have been with us the whole way through in McKenzie and Jayla. I think they’re definitely two good building blocks,” he said. While numbers and attitude may play to the Lady Hornets’ advantage, the team lacks speed. Rountree said he typically prefers his teams to press, but this particular team may not be well-suited for the press game. He added that the team needs to develop more scoring options, as well, to make it more difficult for the defense. Rountree said team identity is something that will not change. “I think we’ll play really hard; that’s where we always start it. We’re going to do everything we can to prepare ourselves to be a solid, all-around basketball team,” he said. “We don’t have any one person who is head and shoulders above her teammates, so we’ve got to really buy into the team aspect. Our goal, every time we go out there, is to be right in the hunt to win ballgames. We’re going to take that personality to the court with us every time.”