Lady Yellow Jacket roster filled with young talent

John Stepp, The Sentinel Echo, London, Ky.
·4 min read

Nov. 27—WILLIAMSBURG — The Williamsburg Lady Yellow Jackets are one of those programs in the 13th Region that you know are going to bring it every time they step on the court.

For the past several years, Williamsburg has built a program that continues to put together winning seasons, despite not having some of the postseason hardware that other teams in their district have enjoyed. But none of that matters to Coach Randy Crider — not the best parts of the past, nor the worst — he is focused on the future and that means the 2021-2022 girls basketball season.

Crider lost quite a bit of talent from last year's squad, including one of the region's best scorers in Mikkah Siler, who averaged over 26 points and 11 rebounds a game for the Lady Yellow Jackets. They also graduated five other seniors who were key parts of the success over the past four years.

But moving forward, Crider has a core of players returning that he is excited about. He said between graduation and transfers, you can't get caught up on what you don't have, you just have to focus on what you got.

"We did lose a lot of talent from last season, but we can't dwell on that. We have to move forward and it's the next player-up mentality for us. Graduation and transfers happen," said Crider. "The way I look at it, all that creates is opportunities for other players. We have girls who are now getting their chances to play. We have younger players in the program who are ready to prove themselves."

On a roster filled with young talent, the Lady Yellow Jackets will return one senior this season in Kaylee Graham. Last year, Graham played in all 26 games for Williamsburg and was their second-leading scorer on the season and the only player other than Siler to average double figures with 10 points per game.

Crider said Graham means a lot to the program and she will be relied upon to provide leadership to the young group.

"Kaylee Graham transferred to us her freshman year and she has played a lot of basketball for us. She is going to be a huge part of what we do this season," said Crider. "We have to rely on her for her leadership and we will turn to her a lot this year."

Joining Graham in pivotal roles this season will be Zoie Brown, Alexis Wilson, Lorelei Coleman, Hannah Creekmore, and a slew of other girls expected to fit into the rotation.

"Zoie Brown came in last year and played a lot of crucial minutes for us at different times. She was a backup, but we expect her to come in and solidify the point guard position for us," said Crider. "Wilson will be a sophomore and played a lot for us as a freshman last year. She is probably our best player and our offense will run through her. We have several very skilled players. I think we will be a better shooting team this year, as well."

While the offense is what most people always talk about, Crider preaches defense first and that has been his staple since he took over the program in 2016. He said that he wants his teams to be known as a tough, hard-nosed, defensive team and that playing that way will be an advantage this season.

"Every year our main focus is defense. We try to pride ourselves as a good defensive team. We kind of struggled the last two years with that, but we're better this year and get some continuity," said Crider. "It comes down to knowing where you're supposed to be and knowing your teammates. I don't see us scoring a lot of points this year, so we'll need to control the pace of the game and keep possessions to a minimum with our defense."

Ultimately, Crider said the biggest challenge for his team this year will be the district they play in and getting a lot of new faces on the team to come together and play well. If they can do that, they can compete with the other teams in the always tough 50th District.

"We have a lot of new faces this year. You never know who you're going to have, being a small school," said Crider. "We have to get these girls working together and playing together, get them used to each other. It's hard for us to go five-on-five because of our roster, so we do what we can. We focus on the little things. I like what we have seen so far and we'll see what happens when we start playing."