West Platte senior Julia Pattison is a returning starter from the best season the Lady Blue Jays have had in the 21st century.
WESTON – McKenzie Reagan has spent the last four years coaching the DeKalb girls’ basketball team to three seasons well over .500 and is looking to bring that success to West Platte.
For the previous four years, John Kruse held the reins at West Platte but stepped down in the aftermath of the best season in the 21st century. Following a 16-9 campaign – including a 5-1 record in the conference and a clinching of the No. 1 seed in districts – the Lady Blue Jays expect to continue being a dominant force.
“We’re building on some of the strengths that they have, and I think it’s been a process, but the girls are willing to learn and try some of these different things that they haven’t been used to,” McKenzie Reagan said. “It’s going to take us a little bit to kind of get to where we want to be with some of the stuff but we’re on track for now and hoping to get better every game.”
Senior point guard Julia Pattison was a unanimous selection on the KCI All-Conference Team last year and will lead the offense yet again. In her junior campaign she scored 10.64 points, grabbed 4.88 rebounds, passed out 1.88 assists and forced 2.92 steals per game.
“Avery Holmes is another senior who started last year as well and is one of our better shooting guards, so she’ll be important for us on both ends of the floor. Sam Baker is a junior and another guard who’s scrappy and does a lot of good things,” Reagan said.
Senior Klaira Groom and sophomore Blair McHenry will fill out the rest of the starting lineup. Groom didn’t see a lot of minutes last year, but McHenry was in the rotation as a freshman.
“Blair McHenry came off the bench last year and is stepping into a much bigger role this year for us. She helps create things on offense, and then does a good job for us defensively, too, so she can play in and out which is beneficial for us,” Reagan said.
Despite having a successful season last year, West Platte was upset in its first postseason game and has only won one district contest since 2015. In her time at DeKalb, Reagan made three district championship appearances and will try and have similar postseason runs at West Platte.
“Those are the things that we talked about at practice every day that all these little things are going to help us at the end of February in the big games that really matter. We’re trying to give the girls opportunities to learn, whether it be setting up situations in practice or game situations where they can feel more prepared, as much as possible,” Reagan said.
Maddison McMillan, Catelyn Carlson and Emma Downing will lead the second unit this season. West Platte opened the season as the No. 3 seed in the KCI Tournament.