The Lady Cardinals open their basketball season on Monday night at the Carl Junction Tournament.   They received the number 1 seed and will face East Newton at 6:00 in the opening round.  

Webb City will return all five starters from last years class 4 state championship.  That team finished the year with a 30-1 record and with a 22nd national ranking from ESPN.  The won the COC conference with a perfect 7-0 record, and also recorded wins over Midwest City Oklahoma and St. Josephs Academy.  

This year brings a new challenge as the Lady Cardinals have been moved to Class 5, but the expectations are still the same.  

"Moving to class 5 will certainly be a challenge", comments head coach Brad Shorter, "but with the schedule we have in place, both within the conference and non-conference games, we certainly feel like it will prepare us for districts."  

Those non-conference games will include Wichita Heights (Kansas Class 6 finalist) in the Hy-Vee Shootout, Incarnate Word Academy (Missouri Class 5 Champions) in the Preps Elite Shootout, and Memphis Overton.  The KTXR tournament is also loaded with talented teams.  

Other comments from coach Shorter -

"This year we will continue to work on our defense and rebounding.  We also feel that our shooting percentages from the field and the line can improve from a year ago."   

"We will continue to play at a fast pace which seems to be the most enjoyable for our kids and the fans"

Shorter will once again be helped by Walter Resa, Kathy Harris and Elaine Shewmake.  Ashleigh Houdyshell, a former Cardinal player, has been added to the staff.