The 2021 Lady Redskin season came to a close on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, at the State Fair Arena. The Lady Redskins lost 58 to 52 to the Kellyville Lady Ponies.
Kellyville appeared on paper to be a good matchup. They were 17 and 2 and ranked #4 in the last OSSSA poll. They had adequate size, though none as tall as Avri Weeks.
The Lady Redskins have experienced guards, but Kellyville had a senior guard, Jade Upshaw, that absolutely could not be stopped. She hit from outside, inside, about anywhere she wanted. She was fast, very fast. By far, one of the most impressive girls we have seen this year. As the clock was running out at the end of the third quarter, she let loose a line drive throw from a good ten feet behind half court that went in.
In the first quarter, the Lady Redskins struggled to score. The girls broke the ice at the 5:38 mark by Weeks and her three-pointer. Emi O’Steen followed up with one of her own with 3:40 remaining in the quarter. The Lady Redskins were trailing, 16 to 6, after one quarter.
Coming from behind is not something foreign to the Lady Redskins, they have done it many times before. The second quarter was started with a nifty move inside and a reverse layup by Kamry Bohannon. Weeks also inside, had a bucket and was 1 of 4 from the line.
The highlight of the quarter was Kaya (Quickdraw) Wiebener coming in off the bench. She would be the only bench player to see action. Her response was on the offensive end of the court, just where her teammates needed her help.
As her nickname implies, with her quick release shot, she scored from three-point range. Really needing something to rally the team going to the locker room, she connected again for three at the buzzer. The Lady Redskins were cutting into the lead, trailing, 29 to 21.
One of the positives going into the halftime was Weeks total domination on the boards. She had 13 rebounds, three of them were offensive. Usually when that happens, it means put backs and trips to the foul line, neither of which were happening. It can also turn into quick out let passes and points on the other end – not happening either. The fact that the Lady Redskins could not benefit from the rebounding edge was worrisome.
The third quarter started with Wiebener in the lineup. She responded with a field goal and was 2 of 2. Weeks scored a field goal and was 1 of 2 from the line. Bohannon had a field goal and was 1 of 2 from the line.
Ryan Herndon scored her first basket, and then Upshaw, dropped a bomb on the Lady Redskins comeback attempt. The Upshaw’s three-quarter court laser, at the buzzer, shot they gave the Kellyville team a 45 to 33 lead.
Coach Chad Rumer and his team have never left a fight early and this game was no different. They started to chip away at the point deficit. Unfortunately, the problem was the clock – it was not in their favor.
The Kellyville coach seemed to be most comfortable with the ball in one girl’s hand. Upshaw dropped another 11 points in the fourth. Luckily, only one other girl scored with two free throws. The battle was on after Bohannon had a steal and was fouled.
Although Bohannon was 1 of 2, the fight had begun. The score @ 4:21 was now 47 to 42. Weeks was throwing haymakers and connected underneath for two field goals. She went 2 of 3. Wiebner again unloaded a three-pointer. O’Steen scored again.
Bohannon was paying a physical price, continuing to go inside. She had two field goals and was 4 of 6 in the fourth. A timeout at the 2:15 mark had the ladies trailing by three points, 51 to 48. It was edge of the seat time.
The last timeout came and the lead was now down to one point, 53 to 52. That would be the last time the Lady Redskins would score, the final score, 58 to 52.
Of course, there are no easy losses at this time of the year. Understandably, they took the loss hard, as I’m sure it will be hard on Coach Rumer. As for a fan, my disappoint, could not outweigh my pride in the fact that they were playing at state again.
I think most all of the Redskin fans would agree. The enjoyment these girls have given their followers has been phenomenal. To keep in context for someone who has not been in the community for long, a quick summary to bring you up to speed.
This is the third trip to state for this class of 2021. They were freshman on the team that shocked the state by advancing to the finals of the Tournament as an eighth seed, falling just short. They accepted being runner up because of their youth. On this team were Weeks, O’Steen, Brit O’Steen and Kiara Price.
Their sophomore year their hopes were dashed in the first round as Weeks went down with a terrible knee injury. The junior year was a hard one for everyone. With Weeks gone for most of the season they battled to within one game of state.
Of course, then Covid-19 defeated the entire state. That brings us to this year’s team. All four are still with the team. With the 2020 tournament being cancelled, you could say these girls were 3 of 3 in their high school years. At worst they were 3 of 4. It is an exemplary record for any program. Congratulations to these seniors. They have been the best team the Redskin fans have seen in the history of the program. Also congrats goes to Coach Rumer. He has been the rudder that steers this ship. Also, to his assistants Jared Hays and Katie Caraway, job well done.
Box score: Kamry Bohannon lead the team with 17 points. She was 5 of 10 from the line. Next was Avri Weeks with 15 points. She had one three-pointer and was 4 of 9 from the line. She had 19 total rebounds. Kaya Wiebener scored 13 points including 3 of 5 from 3-point range and was 2 of 2 from the free throw line. She also had 4 rebounds.
Emi O’Steen had five points including one threepointer. Ryan Herndon had two points and two rebounds. As a team, from the line, 11 of 21 for 52%. An interesting statistic of the game: Herndon, Weeks, O’Steen and Bohannon all played 32 minutes of the game. They never left the court. The 2021 Lady Redskins add a 20 win and five loss record onto the history books at KHS.
Rumer said that even though the team fought with the pandemic, their success was amazing.
“I thought we had an incredible year,” Rumer said. “With only one starter returning from last year and all the Covid-19 issues we battled all year and accomplishing our goal of returning to the state tournament. I am really happy for these seniors, making the state tournament three of four years is a huge accomplishment. I am really proud of our team”.