LADY CATS TO PUT EXPERIENCE ON HARDWOOD

To get a good read on this year's edition of the Lady Black Cats, Fredericktown coach Lonny Sheldon only has to look back at last year's squad.

Fredericktown returns eight of its top nine players from a 13-10 team.

Last year's team was not particularly tall, which will repeat itself with basically the same cast of players. But the Lady Cats can better combat the shortcoming with experience, including four returning starters.

Senior point guard Erin Kinder (5-4) highlights the returners. A four-year starter on the varsity, Kinder pulled in all-conference and all-district honors last year while averaging 18 points a game."She's very gritty and is a very heady player," said Sheldon. "She moves well and works hard."Kinder is a triple threat with the ball in her hands. She's capable of hitting the outside shot, can drive to the basket, but will find the open teammate when converged on.

Seniors Jessica Autry (5-6, G), a capable outside shooter, and Hazel Rauls (5-6, F) have started since their sophomore seasons and sophomore Nickey Tucker returns after averaging 11 points as a freshman. Tucker, the last in a line of sisters to impact Fredericktown's basketball program over the past 10 years, is the tallest player on the team at 5-foot-10."She's a really good offensive player and is still learning new skills," said Sheldon. "She's adept at scoring."The Lady Cats also have returning letterwinners in senior forward Autumn Swinford (5-8) and sophomore forwards Megan Brown (5-8) and Ashley Ward (5-8).Senior Michele Petty (5-9, F/C) and junior Sara McFarland (5-8, F) both saw some varsity action last year."We've got a pretty good nucleus," said Sheldon. "We're not real big, but we're pretty quick and we move the ball pretty well."Sheldon promised an up-tempo style of play and plenty of pressure on defense. He joked that his squad will begin pressing "When we get off the bus.""We can't have too many turnovers and we have to force some from the other side, because size is probably our biggest detriment."Fredericktown finished fifth in the Mineral Area Activities Association last year with a 6-4 record and must contend with the likes of Farmington, North County and Park Hills Central."We hope to be competitive and we hope to get it together by the end of the year to be competitive in our district," said Sheldon.

Fredericktown opens its season this week in the Farmington Tournament.