JACKSON GIRLS TRY TO MAINTAIN EXCELLENCE

Could this be the season where the Jackson girls basketball team finally returns to the ranks of the mere mortals.

Coach Ron Cook isn't going to say for sure, but he suggests that there's a pretty decent chance of it."We're going to be really young and inexperienced this year, and we won't have a whole lot of height, not like we've had in the past," he said. "It's hard to tell how we'll do because we haven't been tested yet. But it's going to be hard to continue what we've done the last few years."Of course, even a really strong team would have trouble continuing the kind of success Jackson has experienced over the past five seasons.

During that span, the Lady Indians lost just 12 games total, which is almost unheard of. Jackson had made four straight Class 4A Final Four appearances losing in the state championship game three years in a row before last season's 23-2 squad was eliminated in the sectional round of the playoffs."We've had a pretty unbelievable run of success," acknowledged Cook. "You really don't think about it, because as a coach you're always looking ahead and not back. But sometimes you take all the success for granted."When Cook says the Lady Indians are going to be young and inexperienced, he isn't just blowing smoke. Five players were lost to graduation and two seniors decided not to come back out this year.

So Cook is left with a roster featuring just one senior and four juniors, with the rest of the program filled with sophomores and freshmen."I don't really know what to expect, but they all have a good attitude. The main thing is to be patient and to keep the enthusiasm going so hopefully we can mature throughout the season," Cook said. "It's going to be a fun group to coach, and the best thing is, if everybody sticks with it, we'll have just about our whole team coming back the next year."Looking at his team's strengths, Cook said, "We can shoot the ball from the outside and we look decent inside, but that's against our own team. We'll have to see how we look against somebody else. We should find out a lot about ourselves early in the season."The Lady Indians return only two starters, 5-foot-9 senior Cherish Tillman and 5-9 junior Andrea Koeper, who both averaged about 10 points per game last season. But Tillman has been out with a thumb injury and is questionable to start the season."We really need Cherish in there," said Cook. "She and Andrea give us a pretty solid one-two punch."Tillman and Koeper are the only Jackson players who saw any varsity action to speak of last year.

Among the three other juniors on the team, 5-4 Amanda Bollinger saw limited varsity time last year and she is expected to take over the point guard duties. Other juniors are 5-8 Heidi Jansen and Ronna Cook, who were both on the JV last season.

Among five sophomores who will be battling for playing time, 5-8 Nichole Poythress saw some varsity action late in the season last year but mainly played on the JV.Other sophomores, who primarily played JV last season, are 5-9 Kacie Crites, who is coming off a knee injury that forced her to miss much of last year; 6-1 Alicia Burns; and 5-8 Melissa Sanders and Jessica Landgraf.

Two freshmen who fit into the varsity plans are 5-8 Jenna Leet and 5-6 Heather West.

Jackson has dominated the area Class 4A district in recent years but Cook knows the Lady Indians will have their work cut out for them this season in order to win another title."Farmington might be the team to beat by district time, and Cape Central and Poplar Bluff should be good again," he said. "I think the district should be wide open." Jackson opens the season this week in the Farmington Tournament, where the Lady Indians are the No. 2 seed.