The return of one of the top players in the 2nd Region figures to make Madisonville-North Hopkins one of the top teams in the region.
Senior Camryn LaGrange, a 5-foot-9 guard, rejoins the Lady Maroon lineup after missing last season with a knee injury.
LaGrange tallied 16.2 points and 6.6 rebounds a game as a sophomore two years ago as the Lady Maroons blitzed through their schedule to go 29-2. Both losses came to Henderson County, including the regional championship game.
But LaGrange, who has signed to play college soccer at Western Kentucky University, tore her ACL early in her junior season on the soccer pitch. That forced her to sit out the entire 2020-21 basketball season as well.
The Lady Maroons struggled at times last year, especially early in the season, and finished the campaign with a 6-10 mark. However, Madisonville was 5-4 over its last nine games and reached the regional semifinals before falling to eventual champion Henderson County.
But it was still a productive season for the Lady Maroons, who used the year to get lots of youngsters valuable experience at the varsity level.
That should prove beneficial this year as Madisonville looks to wrest the 7th District championship back away from Hopkins County Central, which edged the Lady Maroons 46-45 for the title last season.
Junior Amari Lovan and sophomore Destiny Whitsell were two young players who took advantage to last season. Whitsell led the team in scoring at 11.5 points a night while also grabbing 6.2 rebounds. Meanwhile, Lovan scored 10.2 points a game and grabbed a team-best 7.1 rebounds.
Freshman Riley Sword and sophomore Emilee Hallum split starting time last season. Hallum got 7.9 points a game while Sword tallied 5.7.
“I don’t think Cam is going to surprise anyone but she has looked really good and healthy in practice so far,” said Madisonville head coach Jeff Duvall, who begins his sixth year as Lady Maroon skipper. “A few of the girls should have a good year. Amari should have a great year with Cam back and Riley on the floor taking some of the pressure off her from having to handling the ball. Riley could have a big year as well, she has worked hard this summer and looks really comfortable on the floor playing with Cam, after the experience she got last year with Cam out.
“Hallum will play a big role again this year the way she can shoot the ball. She has worked hard this summer on improving other parts of her game. We are going to be pretty deep, so we could have several of the girls have pretty good years.”
Sword heads up a strong freshman class that also includes Kailey Barber, Bryanne Johnson, Kaytee Parish and Jaycee Noffsinger, who could also see quality minutes this season.
Junior Katelyn McGowan will also be in the mix for the Lady Maroons.
“We will be a fun team to watch,” Duvall added. “We are a fast team that will get up and down the floor, we have a lot of girls that can shoot the ball with range as well as get to the rim and create.”
The Lady Maroons figure to have a team that will be right in the thick of things when the 7th District and 2nd Region tournaments roll around in February.
Madisonville begins the season at Union County on Tuesday, Nov. 30.
