The defending NJCAA D-2, Region 16 champion North Central Missouri College Lady Pirates are busy restocking their talent for another title run next year, opening recruiting season by adding two players from the Kansas City area.
Some of Jenni Croy’s best teams at North Central in a decade-plus of success have seen a physical presence to anchor the paint area, and the Lady Pirates are hopeful they have found that in Southeast (Kansas City) High School senior Da’Briauna Bables. The 6’1″ post player, in her senior season at Southeast, averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds per game, while adding 4 blocks per contest. Bables will be a familiar face to Trenton fans, having the Lady Bulldogs, in a 2017 trip to the “Show-Me Showdown” in Columbia, beat Bables Southeast squad by one point in the Class 3 state quarterfinals, ending her junior season.
Over the last two seasons, Bables has been a Class 3 All-District selection, and was named to the Class 3 all-state second team in 2017-2018. She plans of studying Sports Management while at North Central Missouri College. Coach Jenni Croy is excited to add Bables to her program, saying the addition of size was needed, and Da’Briauna is talented with a huge upside”.
Megan Ernzen is the second recruit of the week for NCMC. Ernzen is from the other side of the border in Kansas City, having played her high school basketball at Lansing High School in Lansing, Kansas. In her senior season, Ernzen averaged 8 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and three steals per game, helping her squad to a 16-6 record and a 10-2 mark in the Kaw Valley League. Ernzen will add depth to a Lady Pirate backcourt looking to replace the scoring and floor presence of Kendey Eaton, the two-time All-Region 16 selection from Mound City, who will graduate this spring, and transfer to Northwest Missouri State to play for the Bearcats the next two years.
Photo credits – NCMCPirates.com and Twitter (@MeganErnzen)
