Despite a large amount of scoring to replace, the youth-laden Kingston Lady Redskins are optimistic about taking the next step for a return to state after bowing out in the area finale a season ago.
Kingston welcomes back three starters from a 20-win squad but will be relatively young overall with the possibility of five underclassmen all on the court at times.
Seniors Joley Heydon and Jaci Herndon are expected to pick up even more of the offensive slack as veteran leadersafterbeingmainstays for the Lady Redskins over the past couple of seasons. Heydon tallied just under 10 points per outing a year ago with Herndon checking in with6.5acontest.Sophomore Avery Ludrick was also a regular starter in her first varsity season and will once again provide quickness and athleticism on both ends of the floor.
“We are still trying to figure out how to replace a lot of offense from a year ago,”headcoachChadRumer commented. “We have a bunch of talented young kids coming in as freshmen as well. There may be times where we have all freshmen and sophomores on the floor.
“Joley and Jaci got a lot of playoff experience the last few seasons and will be our leaders on and off the court. They have picked up even more of the offensive production thus far and are looking to score more this season. They are going to do a lot for us. We also have several sophomores, including Avery, that got a lot of varsity experience last season as well.”
That sophomore group includes 5-foot-8 Cassidy Walker along with 5-6 Coby Davis, who will be primed to make even more of an impact this season. The Lady Redskins have also added a six-foot move-in from Lexington that will easily be the team’s tallest player this season while providing valuable minutes in the paint for a team that is pretty average in size for the most part.
Coupled with a strong incoming class of freshmen, Rumer should have the most depth overall that he has had available in several seasons.
“We have been able to go eight or nine deep, which is a lot deeper than we’ve been in the past,” the Lady Redskin coach added. “Those youngsters will get their feet wet early and get some experience so they should be ready to go by January. They all have the ability to come in and play and should make us quite a bit deeper as we go along. It’s just a matter of how long it takes them to adapt to the physicality and speed of high school basketball.
“We might struggle a little early figuring out our roles. I think we can figure it out by January and we should have a chance to be pretty good if we can stay healthy. Most of these girls we’ve had in the program since sixth grade, so they have bought into the system and know what we want to do. We’re going to get up, press and get after it. Defense is going to create our offensive opportunities.