It’s Hurricane Basketball Time in Monticello
As the leaves change, the air becomes crisper, and the darkness comes earlier, it could only mean one thing for Hurricane fans in Monticello: basketball is here.
With the change in region that took place this spring, the Monticello Hurricanes and Lady Hurricanes will be facing the same opponents from softball and football season, with the addition of private schools W.D. Mohammed, and Southwest Atlanta Christian and national power Greenforest Christian, to the mix.
New to the head coaches chair, but not to the Monticello basketball programs is Josh Stone, who is taking over the reins of the Lady Hurricanes program from Chris Owens, who is now the head basketball coach at New Hampstead High outside of Savannah. Coach Stone has been working with the Monticello boys’ basketball program as first an assistant coach and then associate head coach for the past seven years.
A 2012 graduate of Jasper County, Stone played collegiately at Atlanta Metropolitan State for two years, and finished his college career at Reinhardt University before becoming a student assistant. Coach Stone said he was “feeling excited, grateful, and optimistic for the opportunity to coach the girls’ basketball team.” He mentioned that the game of basketball at its core, is “just as much about skills as it is teamwork, and we plan on developing both aspects of the game.” After a few collective down years as a program, Coach Stone brought up the development of his team this fall, stating that “they’ve been working on mastering the fundamental aspects of the game, preparing the ladies with mental and physical fortitude, and teaching them how to lift each other up as teammates.”
The roster is young, but Coach Stone says he is seeing improvements daily. “We have a young team, with only two seniors and three juniors, but also have a talented freshman class that will see a lot of time on the floor. The philosophy for the season is to be able to control the tempo of the game and utilize our depth, and I believe this will put us in the best position to not only be competitive, but begin to turn the program in the right direction.”
The varsity Lady Canes roster includes Gabrielle Stacey, Toni Gantt, Stevi Davis, Malayha Thurman, Markinya Thomas, Desi Appling, Selena Harvey, Saniyah Weaver, Jazmin Maddox, Kamryn Davis, Ava Gay, Angel Nalliah, Suri Thompson, and Jordyn Asbell.
This past weekend, while everyone was on break from school, the Lady Hurricanes traveled to Riverdale to participate in the Hoops 4 Hunger tournament at Charles Drew High School. On Friday, the team faced the Marietta Lady Devils, a Cobb County AAAAAA team that had already played five games coming into the game with a 3-2 record. Two of their early season games the Lady Blue Devils had won by large margins (59 points versus Lithia Springs, and 69 points versus Douglas County) so the Lady Hurricanes knew they had their hands full against a quality opponent. The Lady ‘Canes started slow, falling behind 17-5 after the first quarter, but rode the hot hand of freshman Jazmin Maddox to cut the deficit to eight at 25-17 at the half. The teams played even for most of the second half, with Marietta able to hold a consistent lead, and the Lady ‘Canes not able to cut into it, going down by ten at the end of the third quarter and falling as the buzzer sounded with a final score of Marietta 52, Monticello 39. Maddox was the leading scorer for the Lady Canes, dropping 25 points, followed by fellow freshman Kamryn Davis with 12.
Saturday, the Lady Canes again traveled to Riverdale, this time for a game against Alabama powerhouse Ramsay of Birmingham. Ramsay is a AAAAA school in Alabama, but would be classified as a Class A school here. Coming in with a 6-3 record, and losses only to bigger schools from Alabama and Newton High the previous day in the tournament, the Ramsay girls were a tough team, and played that way, winning 82-33, utilizing their size and strength to overpower the Lady Hurricanes. Maddox led the way on the scoring side again, finishing with a team-high 14 points and five rebounds. Davis finished with six points and picked up four rebounds along with four steals and an assist to fill up the stat sheet.
The boys team, under the guidance of Head Coach Chris Pennamon, tips off the season tomorrow, Dec. 6 as part of a triple-header against Alcovy.
The varsity Canes roster includes Denoyren Head, Jamarkus Thomas, Dereon Pennamon, Malik Epps, Tayshawn Reeves, Jay Vinson, Kenyan Davis, Aidon King, M.J. Maddox, R.J. Davis, Chance Ross, and Cameron Lawrence.
The junior varsity Canes roster includes Derrick Andrews, Drake Alexander, Zach Evans, Khylan Jackson, Daniel Lashbrook, Steven Pennamon, Zech Smith, Braylan Spoon, and Jayce Stewart.
The boys’ junior varsity team will begin play at 4:30 p.m., followed by the varsity girls at 6 p.m. , and finished off with the varsity boys game at 7:30 p.m.. All three teams will then turn around and travel to play Eastside of Newton County, with the games played at the same time as the Friday games. A preview of the boys’ team, along with recaps from the weekend’s games will follow in next week’s edition of The Monticello News.
Lady Hurricanes Box Scores
Marietta 52, Monticello 39
Monticello – Jordyn Asbell, Stevi Davis, Kinya Thomas 3, Desi Appling, Selena Harvey, Jazmin Maddox 25, Kamryn Davis 12, Ava Gay, Suri Thompson
Marietta – Janay Davis, Leah Dewitt 25, Layla Blumlunship, Janiah Scott 6, Kennedi Scott 2, McKenzie Everett 9, Kyann Senior 5, Jaliah Davis
Halftime – Marietta 25, Monticello 17
Ramsay 82, Monticello 33
Monticello – Thomas 5, Asbell 5, Appling 2, Harvey, Maddox 14, K. Davis 6, Thompson 1
Ramsay – Rowe 28, Green 2, Jackson 8, May 17, Wesley 6, Davis 11, Bracy 4, Wilson 6, Simien, Strong 2, Williams
Halftime – Ramsay 45, Monticello 22