THE JEFFERSON girls’ basketball team trekked to the Florida coast last week, but it wasn’t for fun in the sun.
The Lady Dragons competed in a 10-game, weeklong camp at Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., as they transition toward next year. Jefferson loses three starters from last year’s team — Skylar Evanson, Rachel Goza and Brianna Whatley — but is getting a long look at the returning cast with the summer scrimmages.
“We’ll have a lot to replace,” Jefferson coach Jason Gibson said. “The time we get this summer, it goes a long way in filling some of those holes with the kids that haven’t necessarily been in that situation before.”
That evaluation process continues this week as the Lady Dragons — 12-14 last year — host a series of scrimmages this week. Jefferson has been playing offseason scrimmages since May 21.
Jefferson’s two returning starters are making the most of their summers.
Rising senior Jakeia Wilson “has stepped up and done a great job of leading,” Gibson said, while rising junior Kellie Goza has elevated her level of play.
“She has really come on,” Gibson said.
Gibson has long said that Goza has a lot of potential.
“So far this summer, she’s really living up to some of that,” Gibson said.
Meanwhile, others are demonstrating what they bring to the table.
Rising senior Cathryn Knight, who didn’t play last year, has returned and brings a solid perimeter
game. Rising senior Tristan McGarity has also played well on the perimeter.
Jefferson is without rising senior Sarah Wood — who is part of the school’s Scotland exchange trip — but rising sophomore
Jaclyn Coleman and rising junior Dralynn Vaughn have both stepped up in her absence. Meanwhile, rising junior Jordan Phillips and rising sophomore Chandler Bragg have shown promise on the perimeter. In fact, Bragg has been one of the surprises of the summer.
“She shoots the ball well, and she’s not very big, but she’s played really aggressive and she’s not been afraid to take it in there amongst the big girls,” Gibson said.
Gibson added that Phillips “has shot the ball pretty well.”
The Lady Dragons are still without two players rehabbing from injuries.
Rising junior Bailey Boyd — one of the team’s top scorers — has not been cleared to participate
after multiple knee injuries. Boyd tore an ACL in December and then tore an MCL in March (in a non-basketball related injury).
This came after a knee injury her freshman year.
Gibson points out the impact of that loss.
“When you’re at a smaller school and you lose a player like that, it’s not like you just go down the hallway and pick out somebody else to replace them,” Gibson said. “You just don’t have those kind of players walking around.”
Her sister, Brittani Boyd, is also coming off an ACL injury in January and has not been cleared.
Still, there’s excitement for the upcoming season as Jefferson — which will play in a new-look Region 8-AA — continues to build during summer months.
“I’m not sure what the expectations of this team yet are going to be,” Gibson said. “That’s what we have this summer for. But I like the group so far. I like their attitude. They’re really working hard. It’s a great group of kids.”
