McHenry, MD – Garrett College head coach JT Lewis hopes to keep the good times rolling while depending on a younger-than-expected squad during the 2024-25 women's basketball season.
The Lady Lakers are 61-15 over their last three seasons and have advanced at least to the region semifinals in four consecutive seasons. Sustaining that excellence, however, became a little bit harder due to injuries to a pair of players who had been expected to play key roles.
Bayleigh Lamberson, last season's starting center, will miss this season with a back injury. Nevaeh Hamborsky – a transfer from national power Harcum College – suffered an ACL injury while playing women's soccer and will also be unavailable.
"That's a lot to deal with," acknowledged Lewis, whose squad opens the season Friday with a 5 p.m. contest against Bryant & Stratton (OH) College.
"We're missing a lot of size without Bayleigh and we were expecting good things from Nevaeh," added Lewis. "The good part is we've got a lot of younger talent. We just have to figure out how to use it and grow up quickly."
Lewis will be relying heavily on a pair of sophomore guards – Renee Timbers (Reston, VA/South Lakes High) and Manuela Peres de Castro (Madrid, Spain/San Patricio) while his freshmen get acclimated to the college game.
"Renee and Manu are two great sophomores," said Lewis. "They got a lot of in-game experience last season and that should definitely help. I expect them both to have big years for us."
Sophomore forward Johnna Collins (Deer Park/Southern Garrett High) is the only other returner from last season's 18-6 squad.
"She's just a great teammate – someone who gave us some very big minutes last season," Lewis said of Collins.
The freshmen include a pair of 5-foot-8 forwards from Mountain Ridge High in Rhegan Lamberson and Nevaeh Payton. Lewis noted both bring "that winning culture" from Mountain Ridge, with Lamberson being a player "capable of playing multiple positions and defending well in addition to having nice range."
Freshman forward Daisya Brown, who played with Timbers at South Lakes High, is "one of our better shooters," according to Lewis. The Lady Lakers have another pair of high school teammates in guard Da'shai Morton-Hall and forward Makaela Braxton-Brown, who both played at Largo High in Prince George's County.
"Da'shai will be a critical player for us. She's athletic and can get down court fast," said Lewis. "I can see her having a lot of big scoring games this year.
"Makaela will be playing a good amount of minutes since we're missing so many post players," added Lewis. "I can see her having to develop quickly. She'll probably be our true center."
Hailey Newsome (Nitro, WV/Nitro High) may be a little more ready-for-prime-time than some of the other freshmen.
"I expect her to step up the quickest," said Lewis. "She has some height and can play either guard or forward. She's very aggressive, pushes the ball up the court, and draws fouls."
Jorjalynn Ward (Philippi, WV/Barbour High) just joined the squad after the end of women's soccer season.
"She did play some high school ball," Lewis said of Ward. "Hopefully she can help us out."
Point guard Sarah Johnson (Nicholasville, KY/Jessamine County HS) is currently dealing with a bruised knee, but could be a key contributor when healthy.
"She can really get up and down the court," Lewis said of Johnson. "She can do a little bit of everything from the guard position."
Lewis said the team's success will hinge greatly on how willing the players are to buying into the team culture.
"Who is willing to sell out for the program?" asked Lewis rhetorically. "I need them to commit to how I want basketball played."
Notes: Garrett College is playing twice on opening weekend, with a 4 p.m. Saturday contest against Hocking (OH) College on the heels of the Bryant & Stratton opener.
