A year after winning it all, the Butler girls basketball team finished with a 23-6 record, something coach Larry Just admits would make most other programs around the state envious.
A loss at home in the first round of the Sixth Region tournament dampened some of the luster of last season. While the Bearettes may have been disappointed in how last season turned out, it could put them in position to return to the state quarterfinals this year.
Butler returns nine of its 11 top players from last year’s squad and finds itself ranked the highest of all the Sixth Region teams in The Courier-Journals’ preseason coaches’ poll.
On top of that, their two biggest rivals – Mercy and Bullitt East – find themselves having to replace key contributors they lost to injuries in the preseason. Standing in the wings to challenge the traditional top three are North Bullitt, Pleasure Ridge Park and Fern Creek.
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Butler will be led by Jaelynn Penn, a 5-foot-10 junior guard who averaged a team-high 10.3 points a game last year. Penn, who is a Dayton commitment, was one of eight players who averaged more than 5.6 points a game last year. And while she’s ranked as the state’s No. 7 player, and second-best junior, don’t expect her to put up numbers similar to players ranked around her.
Just plans on keeping the ensemble approach for this season. Tasia Jeffries, another guard, averaged 8.2 points last year, and Just will have Michiah Bowden, a 5-10 senior, and Janna Lewis, a 5-8 forward, to patrol the lane.
“It’s by design,” he said. “We don’t ever come out here and try to highlight one or two players, but we think we’ve got a lot of good players.”
Defending regional champion Mercy lost five seniors then had to deal with losing junior forward Elizabeth Anderson to an off-season ACL injury. Needing to replace so much production, Jaguars coach Keith Baisch said he may end up taking a page from Butler’s book this season.
“We’re definitely going to have different people step up on different nights,” he said of his No. 15 Jaguars.
Bullitt East, which ended Butler’s season last year, learned just earlier this month that junior Lindsey Duvall, the top-rated junior in the state, would miss the season after a benign tumor was found under her knee.
The No. 8 Chargers, however, do return the rest of the team that reached the regional final. That includes junior Reagan Williams. The 5-11 center shot 53.4 percent last season, and coach Chris Stallings said she worked hard on developing an outside shot in the offseason.
With Duvall and Anderson out, it will give a chance for some of the region’s other top players to shine. At North Bullitt, Katie Downey, a 5-7 senior guard and Bellarmine, commit provides the Eagles an offensive threat both inside and out. And Pleasure Ridge Park Carnethia Brown, another senior guard, shot 48 percent while averaging 17.8 points for the Lady Panthers.
Fern Creek, which finds itself in the same district as Mercy and Bullitt East, will have a difficult road to a regional tournament berth, but coach Brad Mefford has four players, including three seniors, who averaged in double figures last season, including his daughter Caroline. The 5-11 younger Mefford, a senior guard, averaged 12.2 points and a team-high 9.1 rebounds.
Those teams, Stallings said, indicate that the perception that the Sixth is top heavy may not bear out this season.
Holy Cross’ new coach, Chris Jefferson, who served as an assistant under Just at Butler, agreed. Jefferson, who is in his first year as a head coach after serving 18 years as an assistant, raved at how tough Fern Creek, North Bullitt and Fairdale may end up being.
“There are several teams up there that can sneak in and get into the top four and disrupt some things,” Jefferson said.