Now the my point of view here is as a homer, but it’s how I see things.
Willow Springs is currently 8-4 with a starting 5 of 1 senior and 4 sophomores and a freshman “6th man”
They have 2 girls who have scored over 30 points in a game.
Atwell(senior) dropped 30 against Plato in the Mtn Grove Tournament, Jones(soph) dropped 40 against the host team in the 5th place game the next night, both games that they won.
Of their 4 losses:
1. Lost to Class 4 #1 Doniphan(10-0) beginning of year
2. Class 2 #11 Alton(10-1)by 20 beginning of year
3. Class 2 #11 Alton(10-1) by 6 right before tournament(Alton also beat C3#8 Licking by 30 in the Mtn Grove tournament championship last week, idk how they haven’t cracked the Top 10 in Class 2)
4. Lost to conference foe Liberty by 6 for their only loss in the tournament, with their best player on the bench 10 of the 16 minutes in the 2nd half
The next month will tell us a lot about this Willow team and a lot about how the SCA is going to pan out.
1/2: home against Liberty(5-6)
Lady Bears get a chance to avenge their only MG Tourny loss at home i their SCA opener
1/4: @ Class 3 #8 Licking(10-1)
On the road against one of the best teams in BFE and a fellow Class 3 school
1/8: home against Thayer(7-4)
If Willow beats Liberty on Tuesday, this game against Thayer could potentially determine the SCA crown, I said potentially, because Willow would still have to play Grove again, who they beat by 14 in the MG Tourny(Grove was missing a starter)
1/11: @ Salem(3-10)
Should be a no-brainer W for Willow, Salem lost to Ava in the MG tournament just a few days after Willow beat Ava by 30
1/22: home against Class 2 #12 Norwood(10-2)
Both of Norwoods losses have been to Alton, including losing to the Comets by 2 in the winners consolation bracket in the MG tournament
1/25-1/27: Lady Tiger Invitational
I don’t know anything about this tournament, but I think it’s in Seymour? Don’t know what the level of competition will be.
2/1: home against Mountain Grove(9-3)
Another rematch from the MG tournament where Willow defeated the Lady Panthers by 14. I think this game will end up being very close if both teams are healthy.
Overall, for January, the matchups against Liberty, Thayer, and Grove means that more than likely we will know who the conference champ will be in the next 31 days.
ignoring Salem, the combined record of Willows scheduled opponents now through February 1st is 41-15 I believe and 10 of those losses come from 2 of the 5 opponents.
But the matchups against Licking, Thayer, Norwood, and Grove are probably the 4 toughest opponents left on the remainder of the schedule.
I truly believe Willow wins a minimum of 20 games this season, probably more like 21 wins or more, potentially.
They will have a first round bye in districts(6 team district) and will be playing for a district championship(against Licking).
SCA CONFERENCE PREDICTIONS
1. Thayer
2. Willow Springs
3. Mountain Grove
4. Liberty
(The race for 2nd-4th should be extremely close)
5. Ava
6. Salem
7. Houston
8. Cabool
I wouldn’t be completely shocked if 2nd-4th place ends up flipped or mismatched from where I have it. Those 3 teams are very close in my mind(for now) and as I said, I’m a homer for two Howell County schools in particular as most on here know.
The separation between the top 4 and the bottom 4 is SO wide.
Now, Thayer isn’t ranked in Class 2(they should be)
Their 7-4 record is deceiving, they played Arkansas teams only the first 7 games of the season going 4-3 through that stretch(3-3 against Varsity teams) they played some very tough opponents and some were much larger schools.
Thayer just went 3-1 in the P&W in Springfield, losing to Class 6 Glendale by 5 in the opening round, then winning out in the consolation, including a 3 point win over Class 1 #5 Chadwick and a 25 point win over Class 5 #15 Bolivar
Thayer plays Mountain Grove the same night that Willow plays Licking, so that should help even more with getting a gauge on the Bobcats
What are your thoughts, Tad? You always seem to be very well informed as far as the SCA goes.
