Dominant Dozen: Southwest Missouri's best girls' basketball players of the 2023-24 season
The Springfield News-Leader is proud to announce its 2023-24 Dominant Dozen — honoring the 12 most impactful players of the high school basketball season.
The players were picked based on in-season production, News-Leader observations and consultations with high school basketball coaches from across the area. Statistics and other data were provided by coaches.
Springfield-area members of the Dominant Dozen are all finalists for the News-Leader's girls' high school basketball player of the year honor. The News-Leader will also announce its All-Ozarks girls' teams including large- and small-school coach of the year honors.
Five of the players in the Dominant Dozen were preseason selections. Two came from our annual "players who will make us regret not putting them in the Dominant Dozen" list. Five players made names for themselves without any preseason recognition.
Here are the 2023-24 Dominant Dozen, the Next Dozen and honorable mention selections in alphabetical order.
2020-21 — Dominant Dozen: The Ozarks' best girls basketball players of the 2020-21 season
2021-22 — Dominant Dozen: The Ozarks' best girls basketball players of the 2021-22 season
2022-23 — Dominant Dozen: Southwest Missouri's best girls' basketball players of the 2022-23 season
Ashton Bell, Fair Grove
For the second straight year, Bell helped deliver Fair Grove a state championship and she will have a good chance at doing it for a third time.
Bell makes her Dominant Dozen debut as a junior after leading the Lady Eagles in scoring with 11.1 points per game. On a team known for its defense, Bell helped lock down El Dorado Springs and hold it to 27 points in the Class 3 state championship. In the semifinals, she scored 18 points when Fair Grove's opponent was held to 19 total.
Fair Grove's rising senior group has helped launch the two years of dominance. A three-peat and another Dominant Dozen selection next year could be how Bell goes out.
More: Fair Grove girls repeat as Class 3 state champions by beating El Dorado Springs
Kenzi Cheek, Skyline
Cheek makes up for half of maybe the best one-two punch Class 2 girls' basketball offers. She helped lead a dominant Skyline team to its first state championship since 2017.
Cheek was second on the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game. She was the team's second-leading scorer in its state championship win over Principia with nine points while her teammate exploded en route to a 14-point victory.
More: Hartville boys, Skyline girls win high school basketball state championships
Kylee Cole, Aurora
Cole turned in one of the greatest shooting seasons in the state's history. She made 112 shots from deep this season, placing her ninth in single-season state history.
At the same time, Aurora continued to win with its second straight district championship and a 25-5 season. The junior went for 30 or more points three times and had 38 points with 15 rebounds in a win over Logan-Rogersville. Cole could've had even bigger numbers if she averaged more than 25 minutes per game throughout the year; she was sat because the Lady Houns were up by so much most of the time.
Brooke Daniels, Fair Grove
The heart of the Lady Eagles' second straight state championship run, Daniels made Fair Grove go as its energetic point guard who played lockdown defense, fascinated to its many playmakers and scored when called upon.
Daniels never let the big moments faze her as she saved her best performances for the biggest games. She had nine points, five rebounds and four steals in Fair Grove's championship win. She scored 18 points in a state quarterfinal victory over Fatima by showing off her unmatched quickness.
Ashlen Garrett, Skyline
A year after earning Next Dozen recognition, Garrett elevated her game to the main list after a dominant 2023-24 campaign.
Garrett was great all year for a Skyline team that won its seventh state championship in program history. She averaged 18.2 points and saved her best performance from last when she went off for 37 points to secure a title.
Bre Hurd, Waynesville
Hurd makes her second appearance in the Dominant Dozen as one of the country's top high school basketball recruits saw her career end. She will now play college basketball at Virginia under former Missouri State head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton.
As Hurd has done her entire career, she stuffed the stats sheet. She averaged 24.5 points, 12.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, three steals and two blocks per game.
Kya Johnson, Kickapoo
There might not be a better leader across all high school sports in southwest Missouri than Johnson has been in recent years for the Kickapoo Lady Chiefs. She's a pretty good basketball player, as well.
The Missouri State volleyball signee, coming off a Next Dozen season a year ago, elevated her game and led the Lady Chiefs to a Class 6 state runner-up finish. She averaged 10 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.4 steals per game. At the same time, she kept her team calm through different storms and was a coach on the floor. The run to state wouldn't have happened without her.
Allyssa Joyner, West Plains
Another two-time Dominant Dozen recipient, Joyner ended her high school career averaging nearly 20 points per game and earning Ozark Conference Player of the Year honors.
Joyner averaged 19.5 points and 7.5 rebounds, leading the Lady Zizzers to their fifth consecutive 20-win season. Her career ended with three appearances in the state semifinals and a championship victory in 2022.
Elsie Larsen, Strafford
Larsen's rise to being among the best players in the state has already happened. After a freshman season in which she showed signs of being a top-tier player, Larsen became one as a sophomore.
The Class 3 Player of the Year averaged 18.6 points, 5.2 rebounds an assist and two steals per game. She shot 42% from the field, including 34% from 3. She already has college coaches attending her games to watch her play and still has plenty of room for growth.
Larsen's already a special area player. Her career already has been and will continue to be fun to watch.
Lauren Luebbert, Marshfield
Marshfield set out to raise a banner this year and it did so by reaching the state semifinals for the first time in a decade. Luebbert's great career as a Lady Jay ended as she cemented herself as one of the great players to come through one of the best programs in the state.
The two-time Dominant Dozen selection had another standout year. She led the Lady Jays with 15 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Marshfield finished third in the state behind Luebbert's game-high 17 points, ending her great career with a victory.
Misora Nambara, Republic
Nambara took her game to an entirely new level this season and became one of the best players in the area. She took a Republic team that was supposed to be in a rebuilding year, helped it win a Central Ozark Conference title and challenged for a district championship against the eventual state runner-up.
Republic's senior point guard was fantastic averaging 13.5 points. She was one of the best ball-handlers and facilitators in the area, setting up her teammates for success. She's been a solid player in previous years but ended up great with a standout senior season.
Mikayla Pilley, Kickapoo
Pilley went from being one of the best young up-and-comers in the area to becoming an elite player in southwest Missouri. She helped lead Kickapoo to its third state semifinal appearance in four years while being the team's best all-around basketball player.
A Next Dozen selection from a year ago, Pilley enters the Dominant Dozen after averaging 15.2 points, six rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.8 assists per game. She's a capable scorer from anywhere and is a pest on the defensive end. She led the Lady Chiefs with 18 points in their semifinal win over Cor Jesu Academy.
More: Why Kickapoo girls basketball took in every second after state championship defeat
Next Dozen
Hailey Buckman, Logan-Rogersville — Buckman turned in a great sophomore season by leading Logan-Rogersville to its first 20-win season and district championship victory since 2019. She averaged a team-high 17 points with 6.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
Jacie Gavisk, Walnut Grove — Gavisk's great career as a Lady Tiger continued averaging 13.8 points and 9.3 rebounds this season.
Willow Gideon, Rolla — Gideon continued to be one of the area's best scorers at 19.4 points per game.
Avery Givens, Glendale — The lone senior on the Lady Falcons' roster, Givens continued to assist Glendale on its upward trajectory in girls' basketball. She averaged 13.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
Ireland Jones, Clever — Jones' great high school career ended with her among the area's scoring leaders at 22.6 points per game.
McKinli Mays, El Dorado Springs — Half of the Lady Bulldogs' one-two punch, Mays led the team in scoring with 13.6 points per outing.
Lucy Newberry, Marionville — The Lady Comets' first 20-win season in a decade was led by Newberry as she averaged 17.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
Neely Schaaf, El Dorado Springs — The Schaaf name has done some pretty great things for the El Dorado Springs girls' basketball program. That continued as Neely Schaaf was second in scoring for the Class 3 state runner-up.
Kylie Scott, Carl Junction — Scotts tend to put up big numbers in the Carl Junction program. She averaged 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds.
Ellie Smith, Walnut Grove — Another postseason recognition for Smith, she finished her season leading Walnut Grove in scoring at 14.8 points per game.
Mattie Zingg, Glendale — Zingg will go into the rest of her career as the player to watch at Glendale. She turned in a great sophomore season averaging 13.1 points, six rebounds and 3.4 assists per night.
Honorable Mention
Molly Blades, Republic
Lauren Chastain, Republic
Taylor Foster, Branson
Grace Frazier, Diamond
Kerrigan Guerin, Chadwick
Autumn Gunter, Norwood
Lauren Jones, Strafford
Eden Kirby, Logan-Rogersville
Olivia Lawson, West Plains
Loghann Leivan, Miller
Raeleigh Little, Chadwick
Carlie Martin, McDonald County
Tara Masten, Parkview
Ellison Mehrhoff, Branson
Reagan Rasmussen, Logan-Rogersville
Nevaeh Shockley, Hillcrest
Brooke Teter, Nixa
Peyton Ward, Marshfield
Taylor Wood, Nixa
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Dominant Dozen: Springfield area best girls' baskeball players of 2024
