LAFAYETTE LADY RAMBLERS
After 75 seasons of trying and years of falling just short, the Lafayette girls made history during the 2019-2020 season.
For the first time in the long history of the program, the Lady Ramblers qualified for the GHSA state tournament and once there, they nearly pulled off a phenomenal upset.
Facing Region 8 champion St. Pius X in Atlanta, Lafayette found itself tied at halftime and down by just two points with 1:35 to play. However, the Golden Lions would score the final three points to escape with a 6358 victory.
Head coach Holly Rhudy said not only is the loss still fresh in her players’ minds, they are using it as fuel for what they hope will be an encore state playoff performance this season.
“We’re excited,” she said. “That five-point loss at state is the one thing the girls keep talking about. They knew we had a chance to go down and win and now they know we have the ability and that’s what they’re excited about.”
But in order for the Lady Ramblers to still be playing in mid-february, they will have to adjust to the graduation losses of a handful of key players, including two starters, not to mention a very deep new region lineup and the ever-present unknowns related to COVID-19.
“I think they’re still trying to figure out an identity with two starters gone from last season,” she continued. “Our focus has been on what we lost and how we replace it, though I definitely feel like we have a couple of different players who can come in and fill those two starting positions.
“And because of the uncertainty with (COVID) right now, we just kind of feel like a completely new team going into a new region this year. We have seen some of the other teams in the past, although not this past summer, but I feel like we’re all just kind of starting fresh.
“Usually in the summer, you get an idea of what your team looks like. This year, 12 of the 20 players (in our program) are freshmen and we didn’t get the opportunity, over the summer, to introduce them to what the pace and competition of high school games are like. Without the summer to see what we have, it’s not just a brand new season. It feels like a
whole new aspect of basketball.”
While there are plenty of unknowns, there are some known commodities with the Lady Ramblers, especially with their upperclassmen.
Point guard Latyah Barber is a four-year starter and has been the Walker County Player of the Year for the past two seasons. The senior, a quiet player who leads by example, is a two-time AllRegion pick who averaged 16.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 4.5 steals a game as a junior.
The other senior, Savanna Hall, will return to the post after learning the position and excelling at it a season ago. Hall played solid minutes for the Lady Ramblers last year, especially down the stretch, and Rhudy said Hall’s work ethic is paying dividends.
The junior class begins with a three-year starter in shooting guard Mykeria Johnson. Johnson can handle the basketball and has exceptionally quick feet and hands on defense. She can both drive to the basket and shoot from the outside.
The other junior, guard Heather Tucker, is another solid outside shooter who is
capable of taking the ball to the rim. Rhudy said Tucker has done an outstanding job of learning to play more under control over the past couple of years.
Among the sophomores, post player Haven Yancy saw some time with the varsity last year and will provide Lafayette with a strong defensive presence down low, while multi-sport standout Haynie Gilstrap will add depth at the point guard position after filling that role with the JV team last year.
Some freshmen are also slated for varsity action this year. Michaela Baker played guard in middle school, but is moving to a post position with the high school team, while Fanny Barber, the younger sister of Latyah, works on her game year-round like her older sibling and can score from different spots on the floor.
Other underclassmen hoping to make an impact this season are sophomores Laney Rayburn and Sara Pendley, along with freshman Su’andra (Suki) Williams.
“Every year you have that talk with your seniors about this being their last year of high school and not to take anything for granted,” Rhudy
said. “Now that’s turned into a talk you have with your entire program because (of the virus) we’re living day to day right now.
“If it’s the last drill that we do each day, they need to be satisfied with what they did because when they walk out of here, tomorrow isn’t promised. That’s our thing. We’re just trying to get in good motivation for each one of these girls to play like it’s their last day.”
Devin Bruce and Meagan Base are back as assistant coaches again this season, while the new face on the bench will be former LFO and Georgia Northwestern standout Madison Lewis.
As for the new-look Region 6-AAA, it will include not only traditionally solid programs, such as Ringgold, LFO and North Murray, but three other teams who were all ranked in the top 10 of Class AAA to begin the year, Rockmart (No. 4), Sonoraville (No. 8) and Coahulla Creek (No. 10). It’s a fact that Rhudy and her team are absolutely aware of.
“We know that we’re going to have to play three top 10 teams and that’s really part of our motivation,” she explained. “Even in practice,
we make comments about ‘what’s No. 4, No. 8 and No. 10 doing today? How hard are No. 4, No. 8 and No. 10 practicing today?’ We’re trying to go ahead and mentally prepare our girls for the fact
that even though we stepped down (a classification), the quality of the competition in our region is not a step down. I feel like the competition is going to be just as strong, if not even stronger, than what we came from.”
Rhudy said while her players aren’t the biggest, they hope to use their speed and play a fast-paced game, although they know they need to be flexible enough to adjust to whatever other teams are doing on the court each time out.
“I think the biggest thing is that we don’t need to get caught up in the hype from other teams,” she added. “We’ve got to worry about ourselves and what we do. Of course we’re going to look and see what other teams do and prepare for them, but we don’t need to put as much focus on them. At the end of the day, we have to make sure we’re doing and executing what we’re good at to make sure we can be successful against whomever we play.”