2021-22 CHEROKEE COUNTY BASKETBALL PREVIEW: Nelson, Hays anxious to see what revamped Warriors have in store

CENTRE – Cherokee County High School girls basketball coach Leah Nelson felt like it had been forever waiting on games to start for the 2021-22 season. She finally got her first real look at the Lady Warriors in a real game on Thursday night against Susan Moore in a loss at the Supreme Courts in Guntersville.

Following the departure of 3-point sharpshooter Karlee Perry and defender Sidney Johnson, Nelson only has seven players on this year’s varsity roster. But those seven players all got plenty of varsity experience on last year’s 22-8 squad.

“Replacing those two is a pretty big task, but I feel like we’ve got some people who have stepped up and really improved,” Nelson said. “It’s going to be interesting just playing with seven.”

Nelson returns Ella Garmany and Grayson Tucker inside the post. Garmany is coming off an injury in volleyball and Nelson said she’s just now getting up to full speed.
Senior Audrey Green returns to the point guard position. Nelson is hoping Green can fill the scoring gap left by Perry.

“She does a great job of taking control of the game when she needs too. She’s worked hard to improve in that area,” Nelson said.

Another senior guard is Carson Coley. Like Nelson said with Green filling Perry’s shoes, she’s hoping Coley can do the same after the departure of Johnson.

“She’s come a long way,” Nelson said of Coley. “She’s one who goes full speed, wide open, no matter what. She’s worked hard to rein it in when she needs to. She’s a great defender as well, and she’s quick. Where Sidney left off, hopefully Carson can pull up the slack there.”

Another senior guard is Emily Allen. Allen has been a starter with the Lady Warriors for three years and is another player Nelson said “gets after it.”

“She’s not one who’s really going to give us a lot of points, but she gets things done,” Nelson said. “She gets in there and comes up with a rebound. She’s a vocal leader as well. She’s one who you want on the court because of those intangibles that she has.”

Sophomores Mary Hayes Johnson and Audrey Haygood round out the Lady Warrior varsity players. Mary Hayes Johnson was the Lady Warriors’ second-leading scorer last season.

“She’s lightning fast,” Nelson said of the sophomore Johnson. “That’s one of the things we are focusing on this year, using our speed to our advantage and pushing the ball up the floor, making teams guard us baseline to baseline.”

Nelson said she’s been impressed with how far Haygood has come and expects her to make a difference on the court this season.

“She has worked really hard and she has improved a lot,” Nelson said.

The Lady Warriors compete in Class 4A, Area 10 with Jacksonville, Etowah and Ashville.

Like the Lady Warriors, Cherokee County boys basketball coach Caleb Hays is also looking to fill a few voids from last season’s 10-16 team. The Warriors lost their top three scorers in Connor Elrod, Slade Alexander and Nas Diamond.

Hays is expecting more of a scoring role from junior point guards Jack Amos and Malachi Horton.

“They have been more game managing type players, but they’re going to have to bump up their scoring a little bit. They’ll have more of an aggressive role in the scoring categories.”

Hays also expects more point production from junior forward Cade Hopper and sophomore forward Jaden Wilson.

“Cade is a good shooter for us, and Jaden is a guy who we expect to play a more aggressive role,” Hays said. “He was a defensive player for us last year. He’s got a good basketball frame (6-foot-5). We expect him to add on to where he left off last year.”

Senior center Damien Ramsey should bring a physical presence inside for the Warriors.

“He was Nas’ backup many times. I think he averaged around 10 minutes a game last year. Him being able to be that physical presence for us, that’ll be important,” Hays said.

Junior forward Braden Chandler is dealing with a knee injury, as is senior guard Whit Johnson. Hays has brought up several junior varsity players to compensate for their court losses.

Gabe Chester, Landon Caldwell, Jackson Neyman, Colin Givens and Eli Martin are those players expected to fill in and help contribute.

“Gabe is a good leader, very good at communicating. We’re going to expect him to come in and give us some good minutes,” Hays said. “Landon was our leading scorer on JV last year. He’s 6-foot-4, and he’s a good shooter. He gets to the rim and plays hard. We’re going to see how he’s developed. He’s played a lot of basketball in the offseason.

“Jackson Nyman and Colin Givens, both of those guys got some good minutes on the JV side. We’re going to see if they can transition to the next level.

“Eli Martin, when we figured out Whit wasn’t going to be able to play, we pulled a guard up from JV. He’ll be our only sophomore as of now who is going to play varsity.”

Another player Hays expects to be a key contributor is senior forward CJ Gresham.

“He’s very, very athletic, a good defensive presence,” Hays said of Gresham. “He’s just got to pick up on what we’re trying to do. He’s still learning the Xs and Os, but the defensive effort, he gets after it rebounding. He’s got great jumping ability, a quick jumper. He plays hard on defense, very physical. He’ll bring some energy.”

Hays said the biggest thing the Warriors are dealing with right now is getting out of football mode. He said the Warriors are not in basketball shape yet.

“We’ve had a couple of practices and you can tell their legs are not where they need to be, and their shots are not where they need to be. We just need to keep getting reps. That stuff will come,” Hays said.

Like the Lady Warriors, the Warrior boys compete in Class 4A, Area 10 with Jacksonville, Etowah and Ashville. The Warriors opened their 2021-22 season on Monday afternoon in the Geraldine Thanksgiving Shootout. They defeated Fyffe 86-71.

Amos netted a game high 39 points, including eight 3-pointers. Caldwell collected 15 points and Neyman netted 13. Horton finished with 10 points.

The Warriors jumped out to 27-11 lead in the first quarter and held a 43-28 advantage at halftime. The Warriors led 66-52 after three quarters.

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