Veteran leadership fuels optimism for East Knox girls as KMAC hoops season begins

With five returning letter winners, things are looking up for the East Knox girls’ basketball team.

The Lady Bulldogs return two seniors, Jasmine Smith and Ava Faucett, and three juniors, Isabelle Bostic, Malena Streby and Cloe Tucker this winter for new head coach Ron Looney.

“We expect to be competitive,” Looney said. “I think as far as our five returning, we’ve got some maturity. They’ve played some basketball for the last couple of years at the varsity level. I think their basketball knowledge is going to be an advantage.”

Looney may be in his first year as head coach for the girls’ basketball team, but he’s a longtime coach at East Knox and Danville, assisting in nearly every sport for the last 30-plus years. He’s been stressing fundamentals as the team prepares for the season, working on ball handling, proper footwork and shooting form in each practice. He hopes that will help his team out as the season progresses.

“We’re spending a lot of time on our basic ballhandling and fundamentals. That’s got to be our strength because we don’t have a big post player, like a lot of teams do. We’re going to try to control the basketball – using fundamentals and ballhandling,” Looney said.

Those five veterans are sharing their experience with some talented young players, as well as some good athletes that are playing basketball for the first time.

Senior McKenzie Wilson has played softball at East Knox for years, but this will be her first go-round with basketball. Junior Brooke Barlock and freshman Paisley Lilly will also see some playing time. Overall, Looney has five freshmen on the squad of 12 players.

“We’ve got some quickness. We’re going to try to use our speed,” Looney said. “And we’re trying to build some depth. We’re working on our freshman class to build our depth.”

Even with a lot of new faces, Looney feels the talent is there to be competitive in the always tough Knox Morrow Athletic Conference and then, hopefully, make a run in the tournament.

“Our first goal is to really compete for the league. We’re hoping to do that,” he said.

Mount Vernon

It will be practically a brand new team for Mount Vernon girls’ basketball coach Nate Short, but he’s got plenty of talent and athleticism and is ready to see what this time will bring.

The Yellow Jackets lost five seniors from last year’s 18-6 team that finished second in the Licking County League.

But back are senior forward Cora Rickett, junior guards Maddy Jones and Gabby Beck, and sophomore guard Isla Graham. Graham was a second-team All-LCL player last winter, while Jones also received some post-season accolades.

“We have almost a completely brand-new roster this season. Our style of play will look different than last season’s style,” Short said. “Even though we lost a lot from our 2025 class, I have high hopes that we will pick up where we left off last year.

“We have an athletic group of girls. We will do our best to play as quickly as we can without turning the basketball over.”

Short has a nice quartet of underclassmen looking to make their mark on varsity this winter. Sophomore forwards Sadie Taylor and Lillian Worth, sophomore guard Emma Hall and freshman guard/forward Kate Marhefka are all ready to take the next step.

The Jackets will have their work cut out for them in the LCL, as Granville and Licking Heights return all their key players from a year ago. Short feels Licking Valley is always a difficult game for MV, and that new coaches at Watkins Memorial and Zanesville could breathe new life into their programs.

Short feels his team has committed to the program and once they get some varsity experience under their belt, should be a force to be reckoned with come January and February.

“We must grow up very quickly with on-court varsity experience. The girls have done a great job committing to off-season workouts and our pre-season has been great for this group,” Short said. “I think this is going to be a fun group to watch. We have a lot of newcomers and there’s a lot of potential for growth throughout the season.”

Centerburg

The Centerburg girls’ basketball team will have to fill the shoes of a 1,400-point career scorer in Kayla Larimore, but coach Bill Abner has plenty of talent returning to fill that void.

The Trojans (21-4 a year ago) return five seniors from last year’s Knox Morrow Athletic Conference and district runner-up. Back are first-team All-KMAC senior guard Kenlee Fairall and second-team senior forward Tiara Sheppard, as well as senior guard/forward Lauren Ellis, and senior guards Taylor Bryant and Evie Stowe. Fairall and Sheppard both averaged double digits a year ago.

“We return a lot of varsity experience, kids who have played in back-to-back district finals,” said Abner. “But we also lose our sixth man and our 1,400-point scorer.”

Abner does have two talented freshmen he’s expecting big things from — Stella Sands (post) and Ashleigh Willyerd (forward).

“I am very excited about our freshmen, but at the end of the day, they are still freshmen so there will be some growing pains there,” Abner said. “We’re also not terribly deep so we’re hoping to avoid the injury/illness bug.”

The KMAC will again be formidable for the Trojans, but Abner believes it will help his team prepare for the tournament.

Fredericktown

The Fredericktown girls’ basketball team has some big shoes to fill. But with four seniors returning for their final campaign, coach Jared Pryor has plenty of experience and talent to make another run.

The Freddies won the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference a year ago, but lost KMAC Player of the Year and FHS’ all-time leading scorer in Cally Carpenter. Back to make another run at the KMAC title are senior guards Ella Bouton (second team All-KMAC), Kit Bellman and Vika Arnett, as well as senior forward Mya Bryant (honorable mention All-KMAC). Add in sophomore Gracyn Toombs and the Freddies have a bevy of experience to rely on.

“We lost the school’s all-time leader in points scored so we will need to have a balanced offense where everyone contributes,” Pryor said. “We have good size, so rebounding and defense (should be a strength).”

Pryor has some talent moving up to the varsity this year, as well. Seniors Peyton Blakesley (forward) and Liz Swartzentruber (guard) will add depth, while junior guard Zoey Horlacher and sophomore guard Nula Hansen will also see time on the court.

A big key will be finding a point guard, but the Freddies will still be looking to capture another KMAC title.