Keeping up effort key for Lady Hornets
The Maumelle Lady Hornets won eight games a year ago and hope to better that this season, fourth-year coach William Rountree said. Maumelle had some good wins last year, including a season-opening 51-48 win over Class 2A powerhouse Carlisle, Greenbrier and Little Rock Mount St. Mary. “We are in the 5A-Central after playing in the 5A-West the past few years,” Rountree said. “This new league is very tough in girls with Watson Chapel, Pine Bluff, Little Rock Hall, Jacksonville, White Hall and us.” Rountree’s assistants are James Pearson and Brianna Austin. The Lady Hornets are returning three starters from last year. They are senior guard Kayla Freeman, senior forward Alundra McMiller and junior guard Lashundra Watson. “Those three are definitely our lead players,” Rountree said. “We’ve got a group of hard workers, which is a strength. We’re not very big, and we have not had great success in scoring, which is a problem.” Maumelle’s highest scoring output last year was 73 in a 73-14 win over Little Rock Fair, which went 1-25 a year ago. The Lady Hornets averaged 46.6 points per game but gave up 50.8. “Our ability to sustain our effort for four quarters every night will be the key to our season,” Rountree said. “If we can do that each night, we can have some success in terms of wins, but we have a very small margin for error.” Rountree said his younger players will have to play up to their potential. “We need some of our players to believe that they can play and then go out there and let their ability shine,” he said. “If we keep working, stick together and believe, I think we can have a solid season.” Maumelle will play a scrimmage game at Bryant on Nov. 8, then open the regular season Nov. 13 at home against Morrilton.