The Jefferson City Lady Jays enter the basketball season ranked No. 10 in Class 5 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association.
Lady Jays coach Brad Conway isn't sure his team deserves that quite yet.
"I'm sure that's based off of last year," Conway said. "I don't know if I see us as the No. 10 team right now, we need some more work. And with three starters out with injuries, we have a lot of work to do."
That work begins this afternoon when Jefferson City takes on Republic at the St. James Shootout.
"We're not where we need to be, but fortunately, we have 31/2 months to get there," Conway said.
The Lady Jays return two starters - sophomore point guard Caitlin Anderson and senior post player Lexi Haug.
Anderson has matured into an even better player after earning all-district honors as a freshman.
"She understands the offense, she's our quarterback," Conway said. "She got thrown into the fire last year and she's made some nice steps forward. We have big expectations for her as our point guard and our leader.
"She plays a little more under control this year and has improved on defense. She's grown into a vocal leader."
Haug provides a steadying presence on the floor.
"She's very encouraging, a calm leader for us," Conway said. "She understands what we're trying to do, where people are supposed to be."
Haug is one of three seniors on the roster, along with Sydney Crockett and Sarah Hurst. With a young group of players, Conway and his staff have done a lot of teaching at practice.
"The sophomores were introduced to some stuff last year, now we're trying to add to that," Conway said. "We're mixing youth with our inexperienced kids and incorporate them together. It's a learning process, we're taking small steps.
"We still have a ways to go."
The Lady Jays have some big shoes to fill after losing starters Megan Foster, Nicole Martin and Tayler LePage to graduation.
"We're looking for people to step up," Conway said. "We don't need people to think they need to replace the players who graduated, but just contribute in certain areas.
"It may take three or four people to pick up what we lost from last year, But the kids have been working hard and focused."
Conway said the defense is further along than the offense.
"The timing is a little off, but that's to be expected," Conway said. "But it's coming."
That timing has been slowed with the injuries. Jefferson City will open the season without sophomore Micah Linthacum (ankle), Greta Haarmann (broken foot), Shaina Anderson (torn ACL) and Ileah Chambly (torn ACL).
"We know we're going to get those players back, so our depth will be pretty good after Christmas," Conway said. "A good thing is a lot of those kids were around last year, so they know our philosophy and what we're trying to accomplish."
Among the players being counted on to contribute at the guard spots are Alaina Allsbury, McKenzie Gourley and Cailin Mooney.
Conway believes the Lady Jays are ahead of where they were this time last year, when he was getting ready to enter his first season as head coach at Jefferson City.
"I'm definitely more comfortable, even though we added three new people to the staff," Conway said. "The kids, the one's who were around last year, are comfortable. The freshmen and the newcomers, we're asking them to hit the ground running because we're going to throw them into the fire.
"We're not going too fast, but we can't go super slow either because we have so much we want to add and teach."
Jen Bowen is now Conway's No. 1 varsity assistant. Andre Salmon is the JV coach, while Melvin Myers is the head freshman coach, assisted by Alyssa Angell.
"They all understand the game and all are eager to learn new things," Conway said.
Game time is 12:30 p.m. today. Jefferson City will open the home portion of its scheduled Monday against Rolla.