The New Bloomfield Lady Wildcats were put to the test during last year's Missouri National Guard Shootout.
Things didn't turn out in their favor, but coach Brett Craighead said the Lady Wildcats' 40-28 loss to eventual Class 1 state runner-up Chamois was a good learning experience for his young team.
"We were pretty much all sophomores and a junior last year," Craighead said. "Playing over there in that kind of atmosphere, in a big gym - it's kind of like a state playoff game. I think that gave us a good experience and our girls really enjoyed it. They're looking forward to doing it again."
New Bloomfield, which returns seven players from last year's team that went 12-13 while winning 10 of its last 14 games, will have a little more experience when the Lady Wildcats take on Jamestown to kick off the annual event at 10 a.m. today at Fleming Fieldhouse.
The Lady Wildcats (4-3) are off to a good start this season, but Craighead doesn't think his team has fully hit its stride yet.
"I think we have been a little inconsistent at times," he said. "We're having really good quarters where we don't miss any shots, and then we struggle to make some baskets in certain quarters.
"I don't think we've hit on all cylinders. We're just looking for a little more consistency for four quarters."
The Lady Wildcats, known for their size, hope to put together a solid 32 minutes against a smaller and quicker Jamestown team.
"They're not real big, but they have five girls that I know can really shoot it," Craighead said of the Lady Eagles. "We don't match up with them very well as far as quickness. They're pretty quick, they can handle the ball, and they like to press."
New Bloomfield is led by junior guard Sydni Bedworth, who is averaging 11.5 points per game. Junior post player Zoe Welschmeyer isn't far behind at 10.5, and lone senior Bethany Craighead rounds out the top end of the Lady Wildcats' scoring at 9.7.
New Bloomfield also gets production from Mykaela Bonnett (7.5 ppg), Taylor Howard, Ashley Kelley and Brooke Kelley.
"We're pretty unselfish. We don't really seem like we care who scores," Brett Craighead said. "We just want to go out and win, and I think that kind of shows up in our stats. We just kind of take what (the defense) gives us and I think that's our strength.
"We have a team that you really can't key on one person. We've got lots of girls that can score. You just don't know on a given night where it's coming from. It's kind of tough on a coach, but it's also kind of tough on our opponents because they don't know who to scout."
The Lady Wildcats lost 49-39 Friday night at Centralia.
"It's going to be a quick turnaround," Craighead said Thursday. "We're going to get home late and then have to get up early and go play ball. I don't know how we're going to respond to that, but I guess we'll find out."