JERSEYVILLE – The Jersey Community High School girls basketball program is off to one of its best starts in some time.
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The Panthers opened the 2025-26 campaign with three straight wins, something they haven’t done since starting a COVID-19-shortened Spring season in 2021, where they won six straight to open things up.
The streak ended at three after suffering a home defeat to Triad High School on Tuesday, December 2, by a score of 65-49.
But there’s no panic. Head coach Caleb Williams believes in the process.
“It’s just one loss. That’s all it is. We’re going to get better with it and move forward,” he said.
The Panthers returned nearly everybody, only without graduating seniors Ella Smith and Casey Kallal. They returned their leading scorer, Meredith Gray. The Panthers are led by Gray and Cali Breden as the team’s only seniors.
“They’re great kids,” Williams said of his two seniors. “Meredith and Cali both. Cali sets the table for us, and Meredith scores us a lot of points and does a lot of rebounding. It’s my third year with them, and I love having both those kids.”
Jersey’s current roster sees the two of them joined by three juniors and five sophomores. With Smith being the only starter needing replacement, the Panthers are confident heading into the season and have set some high standards for themselves.
“We set team goals at the beginning of this year, one of them is to be at the top of the conference, another one is 20 wins, and to win a regional,” Williams said. “We’ve got to work hard every day to achieve those goals, so we’ll see what happens.”
The Panthers last won 20 games in the 2023-24 season when senior Tessa Crawford led them. She averaged 20.5 points per night.
But more importantly, Williams wants to put an end to the regional drought.
Jersey last won a regional title during the turn of the millennium, a 22-9 campaign in 1999-00 under then head coach Bryan Brown.
The Panthers have only won one postseason game since the pandemic. Three of the last four seasons have been first-round exits, including last year.
But the tides could be turning. The talent is still there.
Gray is averaging 17.8 points per game through the opening four. She’s already up to 71 points this season as she nears 1,500 career points and possibly 1,000 rebounds. She currently sits at 1,436 career points and 783 boards.
Breden is right there with her, currently averaging double figures. And three juniors – Chloe Beemer, Neely Goetten, and Anna Kribs – round out an experienced starting five.
Williams mentioned he expects growth out of the remaining five sophomores – Makenna Brunaugh, Courtney Breeden, Nola Griffith, Marley Cazier, and Macy Kallal – to hopefully see his team have some more depth as the season goes on.
The Panthers look forward to a busy weekend where they’ll host Civic Memorial on Friday, December 5, and then head to Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) to take part in the Blue Storm Showdown. They take on Freeburg at 11 a.m.
