CENTRAL GIRLS HOPE TO JOIN AREA'S ELITE TEAMS

Over the past several years, Jackson and Poplar Bluff have been the Class 4A girls basketball powers in Southeast Missouri.

Cape Central, going 18-7 last season, gained a lot of ground on those two schools last year and is looking to finally catch up with the Lady Mules and Lady Indians.

With three key figures of the Lady Tigers returning this year, that objective is not out of the question."To me, until you knock off Jackson, the top dog, you still have to respect them as the best around," said Central coach Darrick Smith. "But our girls have worked hard enough that maybe this is the year."We set our goals high this year like every other year. Our first goal is to get 20 wins and to try and win a tournament. But we always try to depict ourselves to advance to Columbia. If you don't dream it, it won't happen."Though Central's top scorer Kim Aslinger graduated, the Lady Tigers have guard Dionna Webb, forward Katie Dougherty and center Heather Jenkins returning. All three averaged in the 6-8 points per game range a year ago."With those three you have a solid core coming back," Smith said. "You've got a guard, a post player and a swing-type player. So you have something to work with."Webb, who will take Aslinger's spot at point guard this season, was probably the most athletic member of the Tigers' squad last year. But Webb was reluctant, at times, to take shots."She's a very unselfish player," Smith said of the state champion in the long jump and the all-state sprinter. "Actually, this year I want her to be more selfish. That's not to say we won't get contributions from other areas, but she needs to score more this year."Actually, Smith is wanting more production from the each of the big three.

Dougherty, a 6-0 junior, will play forward while Jenkins, an all-state 5-10 senior will play center."Katie can get outside a bit and can handle the ball well for her size," Smith said. "Heather's a good post player. She came on so much last year. The last two weeks of the season, she might have been our best player. She needs to motivate herself to do that day in and day out. She's starting to play better defense, but when she decides she wants to, she'll be a really good basketball player. She could get 14-15 boards a game if she put her mind to it. That's the honest-to-God truth."In addition to Dougherty, Jenkins and Webb, Central returns several varsity players including 5-5 guard Crissi Matthews, 5-8 forward Nichole Zoellner, 5-9 forward Mindy Hoffman and 5-11 center Liz Hobbs. Junior Cassie Gross and sophomore Jessica Sinn will move up from the junior varsity team.

Smith likes the makeup of his team because he can go with different types of lineups to match up with different types of teams."We can go to a big lineup and start Liz Hobbs sometimes," Smith said. "We'll have a lot of lineups we can throw out there. That could cause a problem for other teams."Though Central has good size, it isn't as deep at the guard position as it has been in the past.

But that won't keep the Lady Tigers from playing their style."We still like to press and we still like to play man-to-man," Smith said. "But we may have to pick our spots more because we don't have that depth at guard."Smith thinks Webb is quite capable of handling the point and he said she has accepted that role."With her at point, that means she'll have the ball more and she'll have more opportunities to make plays," he said.

Smith was depending on Ashlie Voerg as a probable starter this year, but the junior will be out for the season with a knee injury.

Central opens the season this week in the Oakville tournament in St. Louis.