After a five-year run with four regional runners-up and a title, even an excellent season can pale in comparison. Such is the case for the 2019-20 Webster County girls’ basketball team, with the year ending with a region-semifinal loss to Madisonville-North Hopkins, putting a halt to coach Brock Stone’s first campaign in charge in Dixon.
That silence is the rest of the region not feeling sorry for the Lady Trojans, as they still managed to post a 17-11 record that included win streaks of three, four and six games, with a 6th-District championship upset of Henderson County serving as the highlight.
Coach Brandon Fisher jumped ship to Graves County after a three-year stint with the Lady Trojans and a region runner-up finish in 2018-19, the fourth time in five seasons that Henderson County handed Webster its final loss of the season. As a result, the Lady Trojans stumbled through an adjustment period that resulted in just four wins in their first twelve outings, but as 2019 turned into 2020 the team began to hit its stride. The next three weeks would be a reversal of fortunes, with ten victories offsetting two losses to Henderson County to wrap up the regular season schedule at 14-10 overall.
Two-point wins over Apollo and Marshall County primed the Lady Trojans for the postseason, with a 10-point besting of Muhlenberg County also helping to erase the memory of early-season struggles. The 2nd-seeded Lady Trojans began the postseason with a 30-point demolition of Union County, setting up the third meeting of the year with the Lady Colonels of Henderson.
Senior leading scorer Marissa Austin poured in 24 points to go with 17 from Adeline McDyer, while Raigan Price posted a double-double with 15 and 12, to help the Lady Trojans to their fourth-straight district title. The 7-point victory snapped a fourteen-game winning streak for the Lady Colonels, while also securing a top seed for Webster in its quest for a second region title in three seasons.
Webster County cruised through its region-opener, crushing Christian County 62-39 to move into a semifinal matchup with once-beaten Madisonville-North Hopkins. The usual suspects led the way for the Lady Trojans, with Austin tossing in 23 points and Price providing another double-double with 17 points and 12 boards.
However, despite 18 points from McDyer and 12 and 11 for Price, the Lady Trojans couldn’t clear a path to the final, falling 53-45 to the Lady Maroons. Austin had a quiet evening with 8 points, capping a season in which she led the team with 22 ppg, knocking down 96 3-pointers at a 37% clip and earning All-District and All-Region honors.
The loss of Austin leaves a big scoring hole for next season, but Price and McDyer appear well positioned to pick up the offensive slack in 2020-21. Price just missed averaging a double-double with 11.5 points and 8.4 rebounds a game, while McDyer put up 8.2 and 5.2. Dezeray Browder also graduates, taking 5.8 points and 4 rebounds a game with her. Katelyn Cates looks set to replace some of that production after a freshman season that saw her average 5.2 points per game, while connecting on 38 3-pointers at a rate of 35%.
