At times last season the Woodland girls basketball team only had a handful of players available on the bench due to various injuries and illness.

Coach Robert Stein was only able to use the same starting lineup twice and all but one player missed multiple games.

All that has given Stein some excitement for the Cardinals' upcoming season.

"Our freshmen and sophomores are way, way further ahead than they would've been had we not had anybody injured or sick," Stein said. "It really allowed them to get out there and get the playing time. We lost a lot of really close games, some free throws and late turnovers last year just because we just didn't execute when we should. Hopefully we'll take advantage of that this year and move forward."

Woodland returns nine of its top 10 players from last season, which ended with a 76-66 loss to Charleston in the opening round of the Class 3 District 2 tournament.

Stein is pleased with the progress of his squad, which returns four seniors, a junior and four sophomores from last season.

"This is my fourth year with the kids so they just have a better understanding of what I'm asking for them and what I'm wanting them to do," Stein said. "They're much more aggressive defensively and on the glass, taking care of the ball better, overall quicker and more athletic than we have been at this time in the past."

The Cardinals were led in scoring by Krista Rhodes during her freshman campaign last season, and while Rhodes' continued production is expected, Stein anticipates a pretty balanced team on both ends of the court and expects big minutes from all of his returning players.

"Honestly we're going to be really lucky this year where we've got kids that can interchange," Stein said. "We bring back Krista Rhodes, who's a sophomore and was our leading scorer last year, but then we also bring back four seniors that were juniors last year who were major parts of our team in Whitney Lincoln, Ciara Rainbolt, Shelby Sawyer and Mara Grindstaff. Even my other sophomores like Hannah Scott and Heidi Green and Rebekah Page we're expecting big things out of. We really hope it's going to be an exciting season for us."

Players to watch

Rhodes, a 5-foot-10 swing guard, impressed during her debut with the Cardinals as a freshman.

She led the team in scoring and rebounding with 19.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She was a 57 percent shooter and shot 37 percent from beyond the arc.

"She's able to handle the ball, but she can play inside or out and she can shoot the 3 a little bit," Stein said. "She's pretty athletic."

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Class 3 District 2

Conference

Stoddard County Activities Association

Head coach

Robert Stein

(4th year)

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ROSTER

No. Player Year Ht.

4 Whitney Lincoln 12 5-9

5 Heidi Green 10 5-5

12 Shelby Sawyer 12 5-6

13 Rebekah Page 10 5-2

20 Cheyenne Wells 11 5-4

21 Ciara Rainbolt 12 5-0

22 Kelsie Long 10 5-9

24 Hannah Scott 10 5-8

42 Krista Rhodes 10 5-10

N/A Mara Grindstaff 12 N/A

STARTERS GONE

Audrey Wilkinson

STARTERS BACK

Whitney Lincoln

Shelby Sawyer

Mara Grindstaff

Krista Rhodes

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SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time

11/24 Charleston 7:30 p.m.

12/7 @Lady Devil Invitational

12/14 Scott City 7:30 p.m.

12/17 @Egyptian (Ill.) 7:30 p.m.

12/26 @St. Paul Tourn.

1/4 @Delta New Years Inv. Tourn.

1/11 Clearwater 7:30 p.m.

1/14 @Saxony Lutheran 7:30 p.m.

1/16 vs. South Iron 1 p.m.

1/18 Puxico 7:30 p.m.

1/21 @Meadow Heights 7:30 p.m.

1/25 Scott Co. Central 7:30 p.m.

1/28 @Perryville 7:30 p.m.

1/30 vs. East Prairie 2 p.m.

2/1 Chaffee 7:30 p.m.

2/5 Jackson 7:30 p.m.

2/8 @Oran 7:30 p.m.

2/11 @Delta 7:30 p.m.

2/15 @Greenville 7:30 p.m.

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LAST SEASON

RECORD

12-11