“This is my year to go out on top,” senior Donshel Beck said.

The Ritenour High School varsity girls basketball team has gotten off to one of the best starts in school history.

The Huskies started the season 8-2 and are currently 10-6. Throughout this season, Ritenour has been ranked as high as 8 among large schools, according to the Post-Dispatch.

As of Jan. 13, Ritenour was ranked 77 in the state. The team has made great strides to improve off last season’s record of 19-7.

During the Ritenour Holiday Tournament , Beck averaged 24 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals.

In the tournament championship game Beck scored 32 points as Ritenour won 55-18.

After the game Beck was named tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP), and sophomore Jordyne Frost was named to the All-Tournament Team.

“I’m just blessed to be in this position, my teammates are awesome at supporting me during the ups and downs of our season,” Beck said.

Later on that week Beck was also named the St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Suburban Journals Athlete of the week, and she scored her 1,000th career point early in the year as well.

“The team really rallys around her, she knows how to get the best out of each of us,” senior Chanel Cooper said.

Ritenour followed its performance in the Holliday Tournament with a second place finish in the North West Cedar Hill Tournament with a championship game loss to Kirkwood.

Beck and Cooper were named to the All Tournament team. The team has high expectations for how the rest of the season will lay out.

“I feel like as a whole team we have improved a lot since last year, I don’t think it shows in our win/loss record, but we have,” Beck said.

As the rest of the schedule plays out, Ritenour hopes to end on a high note.
Besides Beck, Cooper and senior Stephanie Sontag have also been top performers.

Cooper has been the second leading scorer, averaging 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks per game. Sontag has returned after an injury-plagued junior season and added an outside scoring threat to the team.

Led by Cooper, Sontag and Beck, the team recently won the the Consolation Championship of the Hillsboro Tournament. Beck was named to the all tournament team once again.

Head coach Joe Scheidler has been with the team for 7 years. Over his time he has seen great improvement in the team.

“When I first got to this school I think the team averaged around 5 wins a year, Scheidler said.

Now the team is aiming for a possible 20 win season for the first time ever.

“Last year we went 19-7 and I was able to keep my coaching staff together so we really grew from our great season last year,” Scheidler said.

The team has made steady improvements each year and now looks to capitalize while this group of seniors remain.

“It’s safe to say Donshel has dominated while she has been here, 1300 plus points, All-Conference player and numerous Tournament MVPs. We are so happy to have had her in our prgoram,” Scheidler said.