By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Seeing the Lloyd girls’ basketball team among the local leaders in winning percentage at this point in the season is an unexpected surprise, even to Juggernauts’ head coach Tyler Teke.
“We really expected this to be a rebuilding year,” Teke said. “We only had two girls with varsity experience after graduating seven seniors from last year’s team. But when these girls play together it’s amazing what they can do, and they’ve proven that in the number of games we’ve won already this year.”
The starting lineup for the Lloyd girls basketball team includes, left to right, Devin Cheatum, ShaMaya Behanan, Alyssa Binkley, Brooke Ramsey and Addison Viox.
The Juggernauts have a 13-4 record for a 76.4 winning percentage. Their last victory was an important one because it had been more than 25 years since a Lloyd girls’ basketball team won more than 12 games in a single season.
If they continue to play well, the Lloyd players could also snap the program’s long string of losing seasons that began in the 1980s. That’s a lot to expect from a team with no seniors on the roster, but they’ve done a remarkable job so far.
“With such a young group of kids, we expected that we might take a few lumps early, but it didn’t happen that way” coach Teke said. “I’m really excited about the way they’ve meshed and worked together.”
Lloyd’s best player is sophomore SheMaya Behanan, who averaged 19 points and 15 rebounds in her first 14 games this season. The 5-foot-8 forward is a second-year starter who worked hard over the summer to sharpen her skills.
“She’s become a much smarter basketball player and she developed her jump shot,” coach Teke said. “Most of her baskets last year came off offensive rebounds and by attacking the basket, but adding that jumper has really opened up the floor for her.”
The other junior in Lloyd’s starting lineup is guard Devin Cheatum, who averaged 14 points and six rebounds in her first 13 games. The other three starters are sophomore guards Alyssa Binkley, Addison Viox and Brooke Ramsey.
Viox is only 5-feet tall, but the coach said her aggressive defensive play has been “paramount to the team’s success.”
“We tell all of our guards that their ball pressure (on defense) has to be really good and she’s been the one who owns it,” Teke said. “For a sophomore, she’s a true leader and a lot of our success has come from just her hard work on defense.”
Lloyd has 11 games remaining on its regular season schedule, including a pair of district seeding games against Dixie Heights and Villa Madonna next week. If the players continue their winning ways, they could provide a turning point for a program that has struggled to be competitive for decades.
“That would be huge,” Teke said. “With not having any seniors and looking at how this young team has come together, it would be great to see all their hard work pay off.”
Senior team leaders won MVP awards in All “A” Classic regional tournaments
Two seniors who received most valuable player awards in All “A” Classic regional basketball tournaments last week are closing out their high school careers in impressive fashion this season.
Newport Central Catholic senior guard Ansley Davenport netted 80 points in her team’s four wins during the 9th Region All “A” Classic girls’ tournament to earn MVP honors.
Brossart senior forward Jackson Crawford was named the top player in the boys’ 10th Region All “A” Classic after getting 23 points and 15 rebounds in his team’s 54-50 win over Paris in the championship game.
Brossart forward Jackson Crawford
Crawford wasn’t listed among the top 12 players in Northern Kentucky coming into this season, but nobody is overlooking the 6-foot-6 forward now. He entered this week averaging 16.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 48 percent from the field.
“I think they expect a lot from me offensively and defensively, but we always work together as a team and I just do what I’ve got to do every game,” Crawford said after a recent victory.
Davenport, the only senior on the NewCath girls’ roster, has a team-high 18.0 scoring average and she’s shooting better than 50 percent from the field. She’s a player in perpetual motion who has an uncanny ability to create open shots within her team’s offensive sets.
In the 9th Region All “A” Classic title game, Davenport scored 19 of her team’s 29 points in the second half and overtime to carry the Thoroughbreds to a 52-50 win over Holy Cross.
“I knew I needed to step up for my team and drive to the basket and get it done for them,” she said of the field goal and two free throws she scored in the first two minutes of overtime that put her team on top to stay.
Davenport plans to continue her education at one of the United States service academies. She has already been accepted at the Naval Academy and she’s waiting to hear from the Air Force Academy and West Point.
“I’d like to visit all three and see what’s best for me,” she said.
Davenport said her grandfather served in the Air Force, her father was a member of the Marine Corps and her older brother is currently attending West Point.
“Growing up, I didn’t see myself going into it until I went up there (to West Point) for the time with my brother and it just clicked,” she said. “It just seemed like the place for me.”
Five new members to be added to the Covington Catholic Hall of Fame on Jan. 27
Dustin Hicks, a standout performer in football, basketball and baseball, will be inducted into the Covington Catholic Hall of Fame during a dinner ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at The Gardens of Park Hills located next to the school.
The other inductees will be: Tim Duncan, state champion in track; Dana Granger, football and baseball player; Mike Guidugli, former track coach and long-time athletic director; and Bob Noll, former assistant football coach.
Tickets are $35 and can be purchased online at www.covcath.org or by calling the school at 859-491-2247. Doors will open at 6 p.m. for a social hour. A buffet dinner will be served at 7 p.m. with the induction ceremonies to follow at 8 p.m.
