Taking Charge: All-State duo, once reserves helping hoops champ Lady Hornets start w/wins

Posted Date: 11/19/2021

The Leader

Departures took a toll on 2021 Class 1A State girls basketball champion Dodd City in the months following their undefeated title last March.

Those included losing three of five starters -- all-State selections all -- and the head coach who had guided the Lady Hornets into being a perennial postseason powerhouse during the last seven years.

Preseason rankings by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches reflected those subtractions: Dodd City ranked No. 22 in 1A in the organization's first Top 25 poll to start the 2021-22 campaign -- instead of atop or near there, as champions often do, to start the season following winning a title.

Those facts haven't stopped the Lady Hornets from starting this season with wins, playing much larger schools -- 3As, 4As and a 5A -- in November in preparation for starting in December toward their 10th-consecutive undefeated district championship and 12th-straight postseason.
TABC does pick them to win 23-1A again.

All-State selections Tori Dotson and Kylee Graves, now seniors, lead a roster which will look for more success this season under new head coach Landon Dyer.

Joining them are senior Ali Preas, junior Lindsey Mauppin -- second-team all-district selections a year ago --
and sophomore Addyson Chaney -- all now logging minutes as starters, after previously contributing off the bench to the past success for Dodd City.