Plenty of experience returns for Armer’s Lady Bulldogs

With the return of 12 players with varsity experience the Lady Bulldogs of Muldrow head coach Jana Armer have high hopes for another successful high school basketball season.

“We have a good, good, good returning group,” said Armer, who is beginning her 23rd season as the head coach of the Lady Bulldogs. “We lost two seniors from last year’s crew, one that played a lot, and so we have 12 people returning that had varsity experience last year, and a lot of them in very, very crucial situations. So we’ve really got a good crew coming back. We had a really good summer, we’ve had a good preseason and our expectations are pretty high. We think that we can make a deep run in the playoffs. We feel like that our schedule’s tough but we’re really excited about this year.”

Last season Class 4A No. 13 Muldrow won district and regional championships while finishing 20-7 and the Lady Bulldogs also finished first in the Sequoyah County and Checotah tournaments and third in the Cleveland Tournament. Losses to second-ranked and eventual state champion Classen SAS and eighth-ranked Fort Gibson in the area tournament ended Muldrow’s season.

Assistant Coach Jamie Armer will again serve as the Lady Bulldogs’ assistant coach.

Team Leadership

“We have a really good group of seniors (Mason Anstine, Carmen Fields, Lani Israel and Dri Rogers),” Jana Armer said. “They’ve really tried to step in and be those leaders that are leading by example and also being those vocal leaders and pretty much trying to be that coach on the court, and I like that. I want to say a whole lot less and them to say a whole lot more and they’re trying to do that. All four of them are competitive kids. They get after it in everything, everything they do. They’re definitely trying to make their mark, trying to leave their mark and leave it as a good leader.”

Seniors

The Lady Bulldogs’ seniors are forwards Mason Anstine (5-10) and Carmen Fields (5-7) and guards Lani Israel (5-6) and Dri Rogers (5-3).

“Mason (Anstine) is a returning starter and she is a very hard-nosed kid, said Armer. “She plays every position 110 percent. She’s definitely undersized for the post but she doesn’t waiver in there and it doesn’t matter how big they are. You don’t push her around. If there’s a loose ball she’s going to get it.

“Carmen (Fields) is a returning starter and has a great shot and a great basketball IQ but the attribute that she has that I think for our team that is most important is she’s the funniest person on this team. She’s going to come in with a smile on her face and she’s going to be happy, it doesn’t matter what happened the night before. She’s happy and she makes everybody else around her happy and she’s also a great player and does lots of things on the court for us as well.

“Lani (Israel) is a guard. She has a great shot and is very athletic. She has definitely improved her game and is going to be depended on to make more of an impact this year than what she’s done in the past.

“Dri (Rogers) is a little spitfire. She’s tiny but that girl can offensive rebound. She could be the smallest one on the court but she’ll come out with the basketball. Great shooter, great shooter.”

Juniors

Muldrow’s juniors this season are guard/forward Kennedi Wight (5-10), guards Cailey Grinstead (5-6), Claire Tabor (5-9) and Kennady Moore (58), forwards Katelynn Moore (5-8) and Addison Allen (5-9) and guard Makynlee Morton (5-6).

“Kennedi (Wight) is a returning starter and she is my leading scorer coming back,” Armer remarked. “She averaged 14 points a game last year. Has definitely improved her outside shot and she’s able to get to the hole. If you guard her with a big she’ll take you outside, if you guard her with a small she’ll take you inside. She’s a tough matchup for people. She is as competitive of a kid as I’ve had in a while. She reminds me a lot, in the terms of mentality, of Hannah Boyett. They probably hate to lose more than they like to win. She’s just so competitive in everything.”

Hannah Boyett, a Muldrow High School alumna, is a starting guard for the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith’s women’s basketball team and the junior

Muldrow’s Kennedi Wight launches a 3-point shot attempt during a high school basketball contest against Sallisaw last season. Wight, a junior, is a returning starter for the Lady Bulldogs, who were scheduled to begin their season on Nov. 29 at Eufaula.

is in her third season at UAFS.

“Cailey (Grinstead) is my other returning starter,” said Armer. “Cailey is just a great shooter. She is deadly from the outside and this summer she has increased her range and increased her ability to get to the hole. She had some big games for us last year and was huge in the county finals. A little bit more settled in to her position and to playing and all of that than she was as a sophomore and I think you’ll see more big games from her.

“Claire (Tabor) had a lot of crucial, important minutes for us last year. Maybe the most athletic kid on our team. She jumps well, possesses a great jump shot and she would probably be our defensive stopper. Just using her athleticism makes it hard to shoot over her and she’s just an all-around good athlete.

“Kennady (Moore) really, really came along this summer. She’s another one that is athletic and really has great moves and so this summer she really took on the role of being the one to get to the hole. She’s impressed me a lot this summer so I’m looking for her to step up and get more minutes than what she did last year.

“Sister Katelynn (Moore), is a forward and she’s the same way. Katelynn has great moves inside. Sometimes she second-guesses herself and that’s what we’re trying to get her to not do because she can score. She can also step outside and shoot the ball. She also had some big games for us last year in big moments. She made a big shot when we played at Roland and in the game when we won the regional final. We expect her to do the same for us this year.

“Addison (Allen) tore her ACL as a freshman so last year as a sophomore really she was just behind, she was just trying to play catch-up all year, and then she tore some meniscus in December and had to have a little scope so she missed a little more then. This summer she’s really come along and she’ll give us good minutes on the inside. Good strong kid, post kid, and she’s getting better and better coming back from that knee injury.

“Makynlee (Morton) tore her ACL last year during the summer and so she was out all year. She’s kind of a hard-nosed kid too. She’ll get after you, she doesn’t mind getting on the floor, she doesn’t mind doing all those little dirty things that coaches love to see players do but right now she’s still just trying to figure out with that knee what she can do and what she can’t. It’s still a work in progress with her but she’s willing to put in the time to get better and she could definitely be on the court.”

The Lady Bulldogs’ sophomores are point guard Jensi Fields (5-5), forward Maysi Fields (5-7), guards Danica Tune (5-6) and Chloee Clark (5-6), forwards Noa Kate Coleman (5-9) and Emmalee Short (5-8), post Natalie Horton (5-9) and guard Nee’Lah Pollard (5-5).

“Jensi (Fields) got thrown into the fire last year as a freshman and she did a really good job for us,” Armer said. “She had to step up and play because we only had one point guard last year and she graduated. She’s way more aggressive this year than what she was last year and I think that comes along with just the confidence of playing the position and playing high school basketball and feeling more comfortable with the situation. She’s going to be highly depended upon this year to handle the ball for us and run those point-guard duties that Katie Grace (Floyd) did for us last year.

“Maysi (Fields) has one of the best shots on the team, one of the quickest releases, got great range and her basketball IQ is very, very high. She sees what’s open. She didn’t get a lot of court time last year as a freshman, she did get to play up, but she really had some good games.

“Our other sophomores are Danica Tune, Chloee Clark, Noa Kate Coleman, Emmalee Short, Natalie Horton and Nee’Lah Pollard.”

Schedule

New to the Lady Bulldogs’ schedule this season are the Sequoyah-Tahlequah Tournament in December and nonconference games against Eufaula.

The Sequoyah Tournament replaces the Cleveland Tournament and Eufaula has replaced Howe.

“We’re going to play Eufaula homeand- home and that’s a first,” said Armer. “We just played Howe once but they got into a conference and we were able to pick up Eufaula.”

“We’re going to Tahlequah Sequoyah this year. We went to Cleveland last year and Sequoyah is a little closer. It’s a really good tournament on the girls’ side.

“The schedule is as tough as always. Our conference (Northeastern Oklahoma Athletic Association) is always tough. Stilwell’s got the majority of their crew that made it to the state tournament back so they’ll be solid. Poteau’s getting better and better under coach (Johnny) Mason every game and coach (Dennis) Wright has taken over down at Spiro and he’ll do a good job. Roland still has quality people, coach (Greg) Scott’s done a great job with Sallisaw and Wes (Cloud) will do a good job at Checotah. It doesn’t get any easier in our conference. It’s pretty tough and that Sequoyah County Tournament’s going to be a doozy.”

In addition to the Sequoyah County Tournament the Lady Bulldogs will also travel to Checotah for its tournament.

Muldrow opened its season on Nov. 29 at Eufaula and played Roland at home on Dec. 2.