By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Seneca girls basketball finished as district runner-up to eventual Class 4 state runner-up Mt. Vernon. The Lady Indians posted a 13-15 record overall.

Only one senior graduated from last year’s Big 8 West championship team, which has expectations high for Seneca.

Leading the returning players is senior Aliya Grotjohn. Grotjohn was named Big 8 West Player of the Year as a junior after she averaged 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

“At times she was the most dominant player on the floor. I see her as being one of the more dominant players in the area,” Seneca head coach Drew Schulte said. “She has been our team MVP for the last two years. She is well over 1,000 points and has a chance of scoring 2,000. She continues to learn and improve her game. I look forward to her finishing off her senior year strong.”

Fellow seniors Kaleila Uto and Hunter Beard also return. Uto played in 27 games last year averaging 4 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. Beard was limited to just four games due to injury.

“Kaleila Uto is going to be one of our leading rebounders. She is very scrappy and gets in there. A very unselfish player who fills her role well,” Schulte said. “Hunter Beard will be coming off a knee injury from last year. She will be competing for a starting position. (She is an) aggressive player who sets solid screens and can patrol the paint.”

Juniors Parker Long and Hailey Dragoo each saw significant varsity time as sophomores. Long averaged 5.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Dragoo saw action in 13 varsity games.

“Parker Long filled a huge role last year. She will be our starting center. She does a great job getting after it on the boards and on defense. Offensively she has improved and has figured out the post position. She can and will step out and will knock down the three,” Schulte said. “Hailey Dragoo is a junior (who) will be competing for some varsity time. She has good size with speed and has developed a nice jump shot over the summer. She’s always positive and is very coachable. I look for her to really help us down low.”

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Fellow junior Daylin McKnight will compete for varsity minutes after playing junior varsity last year. She is a shooting threat from outside.

Three sophomores in Samarah Mittag, Mackenzie French and Sydnee Staley round out the returning players.

Mittag saw the most varsity action of the three as a freshman playing in all 28 varsity contests averaging 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

“I look to Samarah to have a break out season,” Schulte said. “She can do great things on offense, and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time on defense. I expect big things out of her this year. She can be one of our dominant players.”

French (21 varsity games) and Staley (16 varsity games) also return with significant experience.

“(French) played big minutes last year and did great things on both sides of the ball. She hustles, plays great defense, very aggressive, and can shoot from beyond the arc,” Schulte said. “Staley (was) our defensive MVP from last year. (She) stepped up big time, she guarded some of the area’s top players and put a tremendous amount of pressure up top on our press. She doesn’t score a lot of points, but makes up for it with rebounding and defense.”

Freshman Hazley Grotjohn, the younger sister of Aliya, is expected to make an immediate varsity impact at guard.

“Hazley is a very experienced and very well rounded player,” Schulte said. “She has great handles, sees the floor well, attacks the rim, and can shoot the three very well. I look forward to her making an immediate impact on our team, and will be part of a scoring duo.”

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Daelynd Campbell is another freshman that will compete for varsity action.

“I am very excited for this upcoming season. We only graduated one senior from last year and we will retain everyone else,” Schulte said. “Winning the Big 8 West conference was huge for our girls and our program last year. We had several young players step up and make a huge impact for us. I believe this year with almost the same group of girls our expectations will be higher for them. Offensively, we aren’t as big, we will have to be creative and create scoring opportunities for our guards. Also, I think we will have a little more fire power from the outside when it comes to shooting. I also think we will be a little more of a threat from the inside as well with Parker Long playing the post position. Defensively, in order to be successful we are going to have to apply more pressure on the guards, and it will be imperative to control the boards. We need to prevent second chances for our team to be successful. I believe with the amount of work they have put into the summer will pay off for them.”