A year older and a year wiser, the Trigg County Lady Wildcats are looking to continue making strides as they rebuild from the program’s first district three-peat from 2019-21.
Trigg County improved from three wins in 2023-24 to eight wins last year and returns four starters from that team.
Fourth-year head coach Greg Stephens welcomes back a team with experience, but he also knows it’s raw in places, too.
“They’re starting to buy into some stuff and starting to get it. Of course, we’re one year older than we were last year, so some of that experience is starting to come a little bit,” Stephens said. “They are starting to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They know where they need to be.”
Trigg County’s defense knocked five points off the previous season’s average, and Stephens knows, especially early, that limiting their opponents will be key as the Lady Wildcats look to get into an offensive rhythm.
“Their decision-making is better, and they play like they want to play defense this year,” he said.
On the offensive side, sophomore Veyda Grinols (11.6 ppg., 9.9 reb.) missed averaging a double-double last year by four rebounds. She will be the offensive catalyst for the season, as she can work off the dribble and score in the paint. She was also second on the team with 128 free throw attempts.
Trigg County will also be expecting a big season from sophomore center Cali Jones, who averaged 4.3 points and 4.1 rebounds last year. A fall season on the volleyball court has improved her footwork and made her more agile in the paint.
Both Grinols and Jones could average a double-double for the Lady Wildcats if they can stay on the court and out of foul trouble.
“We’re counting on Cali to have a big breakout this year. We’ve talked to her about needing her really to be something inside. And I think she can. I think she can be one of the top centers in the region,” Stephens said. “Veyda likes to get the steals and slash to the basket, and now we have Cali posting up and being strong.”
Senior Alivia Norwood can play inside and step out and knock down a 3-pointer if needed. She also averaged four rebounds per game for the Lady Wildcats.
Sophomore A.J. Navarro suffered a bit of a slump last season as her scoring fell from 9.0 to 5.8 and her 3-point shooting dropped to 18% after hitting 23% in 2023-24. However, that appears to be a distant memory as she is playing with more confidence in the preseason and has figured out her role on both sides of the ball.
Alexis Mayes and Gabbi McGee both give Stephens some experience at the point. He’s hoping they provide some more scoring punch in 2025-26.
Junior Knyona Tyler is another player who could give Trigg some productive minutes and rebounding.
Stephens and the Lady Wildcats started the preseason a bit behind the eight-ball as several players were involved in other fall sports, which hampered numbers in early workouts. However, he feels they have made some strides in recent weeks.
“We actually believe that we can do more than what we did last year and build off of it. They love playing with each other and love being around each other,” Stephens said. “The world wasn’t created in one day.”
Scoring will be the key for the Lady Wildcats, who were 1-17 last year when they failed to score 40 points.
Trigg County will begin its season Friday night at Fulton City and will play at Kenwood Saturday afternoon. They are hopeful their first home game will be December 16 against St. Mary, as renovation work to Wildcat Gym continues.
Trigg County Lady Wildcat basketball can be heard on WKDZ 100.9 FM and online at wkdzradio.com as well as the WKDZ app.
