Any coach will tell you the fall from the top of the mountain is much faster than the climb back up. That’s the scenario facing Trigg County girls coach Greg Stephens and his Lady Wildcats.
Trigg County won three straight district titles for the first time in school history from 2019-21, but they haven’t had a winning season since and have yet to get back to the region tournament.
The Lady Wildcats were 3-25 last year with a predominantly young team that for the most part returns intact for the 24-25 season.
“I feel like we’re doing some things better, but there’s still some things we have to get better at and some of those things will just take some time,” Stephens said. “I’m pleased with our attitude and feel like we played hard at the (Tilghman) scrimmage. That’s the good thing about this group. They know they are going to get better.
The Lady Wildcats only scored 34 points a game last year. Stephens knows he will need his guards to be more productive and take better shots and in some cases more shots.
“We are making better decisions and passing the ball better. We’re also pushing the ball real hard and they’re making the right decisions out of it. I think right now we still may be shaky the first couple of games because it’s still new but we’re able to run more at them than at the same time last year,” he said.
AJ Navarro led the Lady Wildcats in scoring as an eighth grader at nine points a night and hit a team-high 33 three-pointers.
Stephens would like to see a little more offensive production out of senior Reese Bush which would include taking more shots. Bush averaged six points a game on just six shots a game.
Sophomore Gabby McGee is a player who could be a spark plug for the Lady Wildcats both offensively and defensively despite her diminutive five-foot-three size.
Sophomore Veyda Grinols can play guard or forward and looks to build on her six points and seven rebounds a game performance. She also led the team in shooting last year.
Inside, Trigg County got solid production in the second half of the season from freshman Cali Jones while junior Alivia Norwood (3 ppg., 3 reb.) also got better as the season progressed with both expected to increase their scoring and rebounding.
To start, Stephens expects to use a small rotation of players.
“We’re not in a situation to bring up as many girls as we have in the past where the middle school girls played mostly on the varsity. We’re looking down there (middle school) to see how many of them want to come up but the good thing is we play a lot of boy-girl doubleheaders after Christmas so that means we can stay with our 11 core until we need to bring them up,” he said.
BIG GAMES
Trigg County will play in the Murray Bank Lady Tiger Classic after Christmas in a field that includes Madisonville, Union County, Butler County, Graves County, Webster County, and Murray.
The Lady Wildcats will also play Paducah Tilghman in the Class 2A championships on Jan. 6.
Trigg County is in a pair of one-day events – the Farmers Bank and Trust Lady Mustang Classic at Muhlenberg County on Jan. 18. They will play Ohio County.
On Jan. 25, Trigg County will host the Chappel Allen Memorial Shootout in a day-long event and will play Hickman County.
FLYING UNDER THE RADAR
“I think Gabby could be a player like that as we move along and she gets more confidence in herself,” Stephens said. “(Junior) Kyra Adams too. She knows probably where she’s supposed to be and how she’s supposed to do it. We just have to get her a little bit better coming along.”
OUTLOOK
The Lady Wildcats are trying to rebuild in a district that is ripe with talented young players that will look to keep Trigg County pushed down for at least a few more seasons. However, if Trigg County can cut down on its ex-turnovers per game average from last year and get consistent production from its starters, the climb back to the top may not take as long as some people think.
