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South Callaway coach Darren Humphrey talks with the Lady Bulldogs during a timeout of a recent game in Mokane.

Feb. 14, 2018

MOKANE, Mo. --- The South Callaway Lady Bulldogs won the school's first conference basketball championship in 1990.

There's a banner in the gym to honor the accomplishment, and rightly so.

You're probably wondering ... So? Good question.

Well, it's not much of an accomplishment, anymore. It's just the opposite.

Because it hadn't happened since.

"That banner on our wall from 1990," Darren Humphrey said, "has been a thorn in our side forever."

Forever is finally over.

It wasn't quite the drought the Chicago Cubs or Philadelphia Eagles endured, but the 28-year wait has come to an end --- the Lady Bulldogs completed a perfect roll through the Show-Me Conference on Tuesday night with a 84-33 rout of Linn in Mokane.

Time for another banner.

That, however, is just the latest chapter in this book of South Callaway's historic, amazing season. This team hasn't been good, it's been perfect --- 23-0 and counting.

Simply fabulous. How?

"We're a really fast team and we're really explosive out of the gate," said Humphrey, in his fourth year as head coach of the Lady Bulldogs. "Defensively, I think we're probably one of the toughest teams around.

"And these girls jell so well together, that's what really makes a team successful. I think we've proven that this year."

You could say that. And more than just jelling as a team, the Lady Bulldogs have jelled an entire community.

"That's been the greatest part of the whole thing," said Humphrey, 47, who's a 1989 graduate of South Callaway. "What I told the kids when I came back is that the program really hasn't had much success. I said: "You'll know how successful you are when you start filling the stands."

Done. Some nights, it would be hard to squeeze another bag of popcorn in the gym.

"Over the last couple of years, it's really been impressive," Humphrey continued. "We've got so much community support ... we have people who probably haven't been to ball games since I was in school who are following these girls game by game.

"That really makes it special."

Fans in Mokane are like fans everywhere --- they support a winner in a big way. But Mokane is different in this regard --- it doesn't take much, just a hint of success, and they come out in droves.

"They are 100 percent behind you," Humphrey said. "We've been so powerful in baseball and football and some other sports, and girls basketball has been something that's been overlooked for a while. To get it cranked back up in this fashion, it's something that's got the whole town buzzing."

And it's a dream come true for Humphrey.

"To come back home and do something like this," he said, "it really is."

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THE LADY BULLDOGS, WHO ARE RANKED second in the latest Class 3 state rankings, start the unusual combination of three seniors and two freshmen. 

"It took some welcoming arms to get those freshmen involved," Humphrey said, "and that's what our seniors have done. They knew that was their job, to get them on board."

This basketball conversation starts with one of those seniors, 5-9 Adrian Mann, who's signed with Division I Nicholls State.

"She's the entire package," Humphrey said of Mann --- a four-year starter, who's averaging 18 points and eight rebounds, and is the leading scorer in school history with over 1,700 points. "She is great under pressure and she makes tremendous decisions for us.

"She's one of those players, especially from her sophomore year on, who's really provided the leadership to these girls. That has proven to be a tremendous asset."

Mann plays point guard, but: "She's a tremendous athlete," Humphrey said, "You can put her pretty much anywhere you want and good things are going to happen."

The other seniors are 5-10 Kaci Jordan and 5-8 Ashley Potter.

"Kaci Jordan is one of those players who can step out of the shadows at any moment," Humphrey said. "And she is relentless.

"Ashley's been there every night for us. She doesn't put a lot of points on the board, but she's always there with the rebounds and starting the fast break."

Then there's the dynamic freshman duo of 5-9 Paige Clubb and 5-11 Delaney Horstman.

"Before she got to high school," Humphrey said of Clubb, "there were comparisons being made between her and Adrian Mann."

Humphrey was skeptical ... until he saw her play.

"She's proven herself to be just as threatening as Adrian is on the floor," Humphrey said. "As a freshman, you couldn't ask for anything more."

As for Horstman: "She works extremely hard," Humphrey said, "but in all honesty, genetics play a role. Having parents like Doug Horstman and Kara Hopsoecker --- they were both really impressive players, in their own right --- that's part of it. Delaney has high expectations and I think that's been set forth by her parents, as well."

Clubb, a 3-point sharpshooter, is averaging 13 points and five assists, while Horstman is at 13 ppg. and 12 rpg.

Who do you stop?

"I think that's what makes us special, you can't just cue in on Adrian Mann and expect to win the ball game," Humphrey said. "There are five people out there who can hurt you at any given time."

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THE LADY BULLDOGS HAVE PUT TOGETHER this perfect run despite losing their first player off the bench, 5-8 sophomore Raeghan Meyer, to a torn ACL early in the season. And Meyer "Is a huge, huge part of our program."

Still, they've marched on.

"It's kind of been a long road, to get the girls together and turn it into a run-and-gun team from what they were used to," Humphrey said of the transition in recent years, including last year's 16-10 season. "But it's really been successful."

Besides setting a school record for wins and winning the conference championship this season, the Lady Bulldogs won their own tournament --- for the first time EVER. You certainly can't accuse them of home cooking, as this is a tournament that's been going on for more than 40 years.

Lastly, there's this --- the albatross of the district tournament. South Callaway, the No. 1 seed for next week's district at Fatima, is seeking its first district championship.

Ever.

Ever is a long time.

And this is a district, it appears, that no less five teams are capable of winning --- No. 2 seed Hermann, No. 3 Blair Oaks, No. 4 Fatima and No. 5 Tolton are no bargains.

"Absolutely,'" Humphrey said, "it's a tournament made for upsets. You have to take it one game at a time, you can't underestimate anyone in this district. We've had high expectations, but at the same time, this is the first time in a long time that we've had a legitimate chance to make a run.

"We've made a lot of great strides, but like I told the girls on Senior Night, take it as you will. Our work's not done."

More banners might be on the way.

Removing the 'thorn': S. Cal girls

​enjoying historic, dream season