New Lady Apaches coach is no stranger to team

The Pottsville girls basketball coach described this year’s team as “hungry.” Drew Siebenmorgen is in his first year leading the girls team, but he’s not new by any means. He spent the past eight seasons as an assistant, along with Keri McAlister, helping to coach the girls. McAlister is helping Siebenmorgen out this year. “We both feel very fortunate to be given this opportunity and hope to continue to build on the legacy that Chance Johnson, the previous coach and now athletic director, left behind,” Siebenmorgen said. The team is coming off a 27-7 season, having made it to the semifinals of the state tournament before losing to powerhouse Central Arkansas Christian. Siebenmorgen said the team is “hungry this season to show what they can accomplish. We lost five of our top eight players from last year’s team; three of those five were three-year starters.” Still, he’s optimistic about the players he has. Returning are seniors Abby James, starting point guard from last year’s team, and Sophia Hampton, who earned game experience the past two seasons as a bench player, along with junior Shannon Lasey, who was the backup center as a sophomore last season. Johnson said the three returning players “got a lot of playing time” last year. Seniors Emma Tedder, Grace Braton, Hannah Burdine and Kayli Pennington are also returning and are looking forward to making an impact on this year’s team. Sophomore Julia Reynolds has made strides to help as well, and junior Abbie Cain will contribute this year, too, Siebenmorgen said. “We are still playing in the 4A-4 Conference, but there will be some new faces with the new conference realignment. Clarksville, Morrilton and Heber Springs will move into our conference this season. Every game in this conference this year will be a game to watch. All the teams are well-coached, and most teams any night can have a chance at beating anybody,” the coach said. “We have always had great games with Dardanelle in the past, and I expect this season to be no different,” Siebenmorgen said. “Dover is another team that is on the rise and has some talented young players. Ozark lost a lot of players from their team from last year but is always well-coached and does a great job of developing their kids. Morrilton will be very athletic and competed to go to state in 5A last season. Clarksville is another team that competed well in 5A last season, making the state tournament, and is someone we have always had great games with. Heber Springs is another team that is extremely well-coached and will have a chance to compete in the conference.” Johnson echoed Siebenmorgen’s comments and said the conference will be tougher than ever. “The girls are going to be very competitive,” Johnson said. “We had a great group of seniors who just graduated that made it to the state tournament all four years. “The heart and desire are still there to do that for these girls, but they’re going to have a lot more difficult task.”