By Dean Backes
MaxPreps.com
While enduring his first hiccup of the 2008-09 season, South Nodaway girls basketball coach Shawn Emerson wasn’t quite ready to throw in the white towel. Nor will he anytime soon.
Although three members of the previously top-ranked South Nodaway girls basketball team were suspended for disciplinary reasons prior to Saturday’s 39-32 loss to Jefferson in the championship game of the Stanberry Invitational, Emerson saw something he liked.
His squad was able to hang with one of the better small school girls basketball teams in the state despite taking a big hit to its depth.
“This is going to help us in the long run,” Emerson said as his team faces the rugged portion of its schedule over the next few weeks. “This is going to make us a better basketball team. It’s going to make me a better coach.
“We’re working hard and getting better each night. Right now we are focusing on the team and playing together. We know that if we play as a team - we’ll be a great team – but if we play as individuals we won’t be.”
Emerson’s hope is that the playing time and starting experience gained by other members of his squad will benefit his team once the suspended players return in mid-February and the post season arrives.
With the likes of Albany, Jefferson, North Platte, Craig, Fairfax and DeKalb arriving on the docket, over the course of the next few weeks, the Longhorn bench will undoubtedly be battle tested.
“This is such a tough region to play in,” Emerson said of his team’s rugged schedule. “We have four ranked teams (in the top 10) in this area.
“Playing a tough schedule is both good and bad. It’s good because we’ll get tested. But it’s bad because if we don’t play to the best of our abilities we can easily get beat.”
Twin sisters Lindsi and Sami Jackson are the focal point of a Longhorn attack that averages right at 55 points a game and allows just 33 points to its opposition.
They, like the rest of the team, are at their best when they can get out and run.
Lindsi (5-foot-9 senior forward) scores about 16 points per game along with nearly eight rebounds and two steals per outing. The three-time first team All-Platte Valley Conference selection is capable of banging inside, or extending her game if need be. She can also finish the break.
“They know where to find each other whether Lindsi’s out leading, or trailing,” Emerson said of the siblings. “When they’re in rhythm – that’s tough.”
As is typical for a point guard, Sami does a lot for the team.
The 5-8 senior is the team’s second leading scorer at 13 points per outing. She also grabs 5.6 rebounds and dishes out more than five assists, while swiping nearly five steals a game.
Shelby Freemeyer (6-0, Jr., F) adds scoring depth to Emerson’s line up with her eight points and seven rebounds per game. Freshman Brooke Wolf (5-8) chips in five points and three boards.
Katrina Burden (5-3, Sr.) scores at a 4-point clip and adds 3.5 rebounds to the Longhorn attack.
Sara Coleman (5-7, So.), Shelby Jewett (5-7, Jr.) and Mariah (5-8, Jr.) and Cheyanne Murphy (5-6) also see action the rotation.
The Longhorns, who ran off 11 straight wins to begin the season and found themselves perched highly atop the Missouri Class 1 girls basketball rankings, slip to No. 4 in this week’s poll, while Jefferson rises to the top spot.
The Longhorns will get a shot at pay back when they travel to Conception Junction Jan. 30. Below is a look at the latest Missouri prep basketball rankings.
Missouri Boys Basketball Rankings
Class 5
1. Columbia Rock Bridge (15-0) 1
2. Chaminade (12-1) 3
3. Hazelwood Central (13-1) 4
4. Liberty (11-2) 6
5. Webster Groves (11-3) 7
6. Lee’s Summit West (11-3) 8
7. McCluer (12-4) 5
8. McCluer North (12-2) 2
9. Parkway South (12-4) 9
10. Grandview (12-1) 10
Class 4
1. St. Francis Borgia (12-2) 3
2. St. Charles West (15-2) 1
3. Helias (10-4) 5
4. Sikeston (12-2) 6
5. Moberly (12-2) 2
6. Jennings (11-3) 4
7. Farmington (10-3) 8
8. Hickman Mills (11-2) 9
9. Aurora (13-1) 10
10. McCluer South-Berkeley (9-3) 7
Class 3
1. Maplewood-Richmond Heights (14-2) 1
2. Cardinal Ritter (11-2) 2
3. Palmyra (11-1) 4
4. Hogan Prep (10-2) 5
5. Blue Eye (11-1) 6
6. Mount Vernon (10-3) 8
7. Liberty-Mountain View (11-1) 9
8. Seneca (11-2) –
9. Linn (9-4) –
10. South Shelby (7-2) 7
Class 2
1. Laquey (13-0) 1
2. Bernie (12-1) 2
3. Santa Fe (12-1) 3
4. Saxony Lutheran (14-1) 4
5. Portageville (10-1) 5
6. Wellston-Eskridge (11-3) 6
7. Mid-Buchanan (11-1) 7
8. Clever (14-3) 8
9. Sedalia Sacred Heart (11-0) 9
10. Harrisburg (9-3) 10
Class 1
1. Jefferson (11-0) 1
2. Scott County Central (13-1) 2
3. Newtown-Harris (12-1) 5
4. Chadwick (11-2) 6
5. Eminence (11-1) 3
6. Glasgow (8-2) 4
7. St. Elizabeth (12-2) 7
8. Brashear (10-0) 8
9. Meadville (9-1) 9
10. Leopold (10-2) 10
Missouri Girls Basketball Rankings
Class 5
1. Incarnate Word (16-1) 1
2. Hazelwood Central (10-2) 3
3. Columbia Rock Bridge (13-2) 4
4. Springfield Kickapoo (12-3) 5
5. Blue Springs (13-2) 6
6. St. Joseph’s Academy (10-6) 2
7. Nerinx Hall (10-5) 7
8. Nixa (14-2) 8
9. Ozark (13-2) 9
10. Lindbergh (12-1) 10
Class 4
1. Dexter (14-0) 1
2. Platte County (12-0) 2
3. St. Dominic (13-0) 3
4. St. James (15-1) 4
5. Sullivan (10-2) 5
6. West Plains (13-2) 6
7. Webb City (12-2) 7
8. St. Joseph-Benton (12-3) 8
9. Notre Dame de Sion (10-3) 9
10. Farmington (11-4) 10
Class 3
1. Macon (11-0) 1
2. Fair Grove (15-2) 4
3. Centralia (10-2) 5
4. California (11-1) 2
5. South Shelby (9-1) 7
6. Skyline (14-3) 3
7. Bowling Green (9-1) 8
8. Kelly (11-1) 10
9. Metro (8-8) 6
10. St. Joseph-Bishop LeBlond (11-2) –
Class 2
1. Osceola (10-0) 1
2. North Platte (10-0) 2
3. Couch (14-0) 3
4. Canton (9-1) 4
5. Portageville (13-1) 5
6. Sedalia-Sacred Heart (11-0) 6
7. Sparta (11-0) 8
8. Penney (9-2) –
9. Laquey (15-1) –
10. Harrisburg (8-2) 7
Class 1
1. Jefferson (11-0) 2
2. Montrose (9-0) 3
3. Exeter (13-1) 4
4. South Nodaway (12-1) 1
5. Southwest-Livingston (9-0) 9
6. Meadville (9-1) 10
7. Eminence (8-2) –
8. Northeast Nodaway (11-2) 5
9. Linn County (9-1) 6
10. Marion County (8-2) –
