The last two seasons for Richwood girls basketball head coach Chris Mullins have been a struggle.
Now in his third season, the 1991 graduate is hoping his alma mater can turn the corner in the 2023-24 campaign.
“Practice is going really well and the girls are working hard this year,” Mullins said. “We are hopefully looking at a winning record this year.”
The setbacks the last two seasons have been the product of a young team and the struggle to get the ball in the basket.
Shooting has plagued the Lumberjacks each of the last two seasons.
“Our biggest Achilles heel right now has been our shooting,” Mullins said. “Last year we shot 41 percent from the foul line. If we could have just shot 60 percent we would have had about for more wins.”
Last year Richwood won five games, but had narrow losses to Independence, Mount View and Meadow Bridge.
The good news for Richwood fans is the once young team is now evolved into a solid group of veteran players which returns all of its leading scorers from last year.
“Two years ago we lacked some leadership on the court because we had all sophomores,” Mullins said. “There were some rough games. Teams pressed us relentlessly and they had never been up against anything like that.”
Leading the returning group will be seniors Baylee Jarrett, Carlee Dillard, Addison Dudley, Chloe Cox and Savannah Moose.
The senior foursome all averaged just under 10 pointer per game last year.
Jarrett will hold down the point guard position once again and will be flanked by Dudley and Dillard.
Cox and Moose will man the paint and hopefully give the Lumberjacks some scoring threats down low.
“I have 16 girls on the roster this year and 11 of them played last year,” Mullins said. “All of the starters are back.”
Mullins will also have Katie Stanley back this year after missing the last two seasons.
“Katie hasn’t played the last two years, but she is a hustler and she will get us a lot of rebounds,” Mullins said. “She is really strong and we are hoping she will help us on the press. She works really hard.”
The third-year coach is also expecting to get some solid contribution from a pair of juniors.
“I have a couple of juniors that will see quite a bit of time, my daughter Sophie Mullins and Alexxis Keiffer,” Mullins said. “She is not a big-time scorer, but she is a go-getter and will do anything you ask her to do. She is starting to come around on her shot.”
Mullins and Jarrett both qualified for the state cross-country meet this year as well.
“Our defense is pretty good. If we can get our shooting down, I think we will be OK this year,” Mullins said. “We run quite a bit and we do a lot of shooting drills.”
The postseason will still be a daunting task for the Lumberjacks with Greenbrier West, Webster County and Meadow Bridge in their section.
Richwood opens at home against Independence Dec. 1, before heading on the road to Greenbrier West Dec. 6.
