The expectations remain the same for Grafton High’s three-time defending Bay Rivers District champion girls basketball team despite early injuries and potentially stronger district competition.
“Anything other than first place would be a disappointment,” Clippers coach Tommy Bayse said. “The girls have that mentality. This is supposed to be our year; all the girls who helped us win [the district] as freshmen, sophomores and juniors are seniors now. It’s not going to be easy, but it never is.”
The Clippers certainly made it look easy last year when they cruised to Bay Rivers and Region I titles while dominating district opponents by better than 40 points per contest before falling to Loudoun County in the AA state quarterfinals.
Advancing to another state tournament will be much tougher given the Virginia High School League’s new postseason realignment, which pits Grafton in Class 4A along with former AAA powerhouses like reigning state-champion Lake Taylor.
Bayse also pointed to a couple of reasons that will also make capturing a fourth-consecutive district title tougher, too.
In addition to having two key players sidelined with injuries before the first game of the season, Bayse expects stiffer competition from Lafayette — which beat Grafton two out three times during Fall League competition, although the Clippers were missing a trio of key contributors who were playing volleyball at the time — and Poquoson, both of which return nearly every player from last year’s teams.
The Islanders return all five starters, including leading scorer Sydney Turner (12 ppg), from last year’s group that lost in the final seconds of the state quarterfinals. Lafayette also welcomes back most of its key players from last year, but makes a key addition with one of the best individual talents in the area. Keyana Brown, a senior transfer from Williamsburg Christian Academy and Old Dominion University signee, guided the Eagles to the program’s only state championship two years ago.
Smithfield, led by three-year starting center Jackie Jordan, who averaged a double-double last season, will also cause problems for many teams with its height, but the Packers lack guard play, an area in which Grafton and Lafayette thrive.
The Clippers returns a talented and cohesive core of veteran players led by what Bayse refers to as his “Big Three” of seniors. Olivia Wilson, Hannah Olson and Emily Beyer, who have played together since middle school, have been the backbone for the Clippers’ dominance in recent years.
Wilson, the two-time defending district Player of the Year, is a versatile and fundamentally sound center who can dominate down low but also burn opponents from long range, making her a near impossible matchup for opponents.
Bayse refers to Olson, though, as the X-Factor, and her stat line during a recent scrimmage against Kecoughtan — 19 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds, five steals — explains why. Her competitiveness also helps fuel the Clippers’ relentless full-court pressure defense.
Then there’s Beyer, an excellent ball handler and shooter from midrange or outside who Bayse labeled as the best “pure point guard” he’s ever coached.
“They will determine how far we go,” Bayse said of his Big Three. “Injuries have really hurt us already, but if those three bring their A game each night, we still have more than enough to beat anyone, I think.”
Below are a few other storylines to keep an eye on as the regular season tips off tonight.
Injury Bug Bites Grafton, Jamestown Early
Grafton and Jamestown will each be without key members of their respective teams when they meet for a season-opening showdown at Jamestown High on Tuesday.
Grafton lost junior Christa Hall, the team’s best on-ball defender and the point man of the Clippers’ trap defense who averaged 9.6 points last season, for the season when she tore her ACL and meniscus during practice recently. Senior Renee Roe, a key role player off the bench at forward, also suffered a knee injury during a practice over the weekend. Bayse says an MRI this week will determine how long she will be off the court.
Bayse said he will look to returning senior guard Hayley Marshall, a proven 3-point shooter, Warwick High transfer Danijela Cellar, a sharp-shooting forward, and freshman point guard Robyon Smith to provide depth off the bench in the absence of Hall and Roe.
Jamestown, which returns a number of seniors but only few with varsity experience, will begin the season without its best player. Senior point guard Aaliyah Lyttle broke her collarbone playing soccer this summer. Lyttle, an all-district guard, averaged 15 points, five rebounds and four assists to help guide the Eagles to the Region I Division 4 playoffs last year.
Head coach Mary Glisan said Lyttle has a doctor’s appointment this week that will help determine a time frame for her return.
Glisan said she will count on senior Rachel Allred, who participated in an out-of-school program last year but led the junior varsity team in every statistical category as a sophomore, and sophomore Olivia Peterson to tag-team the point guarding duties in Lyttle’s absence.
“[Peterson] is probably the hardest worker I have,” Glisan said. “It’s going to take a combined effort to make up for losing [Aaliyah]. Everyone will have to step up in some way.”
Jamestown also returns seniors Aine Cannon, a forward who averaged just shy of 10 points and eight rebounds last year, and Taylor Horner, who Glisan referred to as the best athlete on the team.
New Era Begins for Bruton, Lafayette
The Bay Rivers District’s two new coaches will make their varsity head coaching debuts against one another Tuesday night when Lafayette, under the direction of former WCA assistant Chris Brown, plays host to Bruton and first-year coach Terrence Green.
Both Brown and Green are proud alumni of the schools they now represent and were high-school standouts for their respective programs before playing in college.
Brown inherits a team full of talented returning players, including all-district forward Indyah Brown and promising sophomore point guard Kenya Holliday. He also brings his daughter, Keyana Brown, who will play on scholarship for ODU next year, with him from WCA.
Many expect the Rams to be a top contender in the district and perhaps the only team with a chance of knocking off Grafton.
“They’re extremely disciplined and well-coached,” Brown said of Grafton. “That’s our benchmark; we look at them as where we want to be. If these girls develop some chemistry and focus on the small details — screening and boxing out, things like that — I like our chances against anyone.”
Green has a taller task with a fairly inexperienced group that returns two quality starters in standout forward Alexis Calloway, who averaged 9.5 points and seven rebounds last season, and center Kayla Jones, who will miss the first month of the season with an injury.
“We’re going to be a pretty young team on the court and with me on the sidelines, but I’m excited about the challenge and confident at the same time having spent two years with the program,” said Green, who has spent the last two years as the junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant coach.
Warhill Flashing Potential
Warhill coach Norm Brungot describes his team as young and inexperienced, but he still sees this year’s group as talented enough to return to the regional tournament following a two-year absence.
Junior forward Kasey Grainer, who averaged 11 points and six rebounds last season, is a potential breakout candidate in the district and will provide a nice scoring punch along with junior guard Alayna Cormier, who Brungot says has “one of the quickest first steps I’ve ever seen.”
A major key to Warhill’s success, though, will be how quickly three freshman — guards Kieran McClure and Jewel Walters and forward Keely Rochard — can mature. McClure was a middle school standout on Brungot’s eighth-grade team at Toano and the sixth-year coach expects her to start at point guard and potentially blossom into one of the better young players in the district.
Brungot said his biggest concern entering the season is rebounding, as he expects to have one of the shorter rosters in the district. They will find out right away as their season-opening opponent tonight, Smithfield, is easily the tallest team in the district.
“I really like my team,” Brungot said. “We have a lot of freshman who we’re expecting big things from, so it’s going to take some time to gel, but I’m very encouraged.”
Tabb, York Must Replace Stars and Rebuild
The loss of Tabb’s standout forward Brooke Mahan and York’s three-year starting point guard Jennifer Pandolf leaves both teams in rebuilding mode.
Both were all-district performers and the leading scorers for teams that finished in the middle and the bottom of the district, respectively.
Coach Amber Throckmorton will need big seasons from experienced senior point guard Erin Fenton, a strong ball handler, sharp-shooter Rae-Ana Cain and forward Jessica Drury to make up for the loss of Mahan, who was a strong rebounder capable of scoring off the glass.
York coach John Hammons has a promising young point guard Madison Van Dyke, but the Falcons will need to find a go-to option on offense as no returner averaged more than five points last season.
