2018 Women's Preview: Growing off last year's strong finish

By Mike Pilosof

Garden City, KS-Jada Washington had just finished the game of her life. The sophomore guard scored her team's final 14 points as Garden City knocked off Hutchinson at the Sports Arena for the first time since 2004.

That singular moment helped transform the Broncbusters from a team in transition to one that could be a serious contender in 2018-2019.

"I don't want to jump to conclusions with this team," Head Coach Charinee Mitchell said. "But we think we have the players to play five in and five out this year. We believe there won't be as much falloff."

Following the Hutchinson game, Garden City won six of their next eight contests before falling to the Blue Dragons in the Region VI Quarterfinals at Hartman Arena back in March.

"We definitely were building something last year," Mitchell said. "But we also had a lot of players with experience."

That won't necessarily be the case this year. Mitchell returns only three players who saw significant time: Kelcy McHenry, Talia Roberts and Daz'Monique Johnson. The rest are all freshman, a proposition that most Junior College squads deal with on an annual basis.

"We will be young," Mitchell admitted. "But we've got some pretty good guards this year."

That guard-heavy attack is led by Roberts, who showed tremendous promise as a first-year player. She averaged 8.4 points per game while reaching double figures 11 times. A concussion and an ankle injury robbed her of seven games in February and March.

"We expect to see growth from our second-year players," Mitchell said. "That's the progression they've taken."

Then there's Johnson, who started 23 games, posting four double-doubles, including a 17-rebound effort in a 66-57 victory over rival-Dodge City on Nov. 29. She's joined by McHenry, who in bursts, showed she's an athletic wing capable of playing inside out. She posted double figures against Seward County on Jan. 13 and again on Feb. 14 vs. Pratt.

The newcomers feature Lonniqua Johnson, who was a second-team all-district player at Captain Shreeve High School in Shreveport, LA. She's joined by former prep teammate Debroah Ford. Guard Alyssa Boyce comes to Garden City from Oklahoma City while Felicity Houston joins the fray from Arlington ,TX.

"We've still got a lot to learn," Mitchell said. "I feel good about this group, but you never know until you get going."

The Broncbusters open the season on Friday, Nov. 2 in the Seward County Classic against Bethany JV. Then on Saturday, they face off with perennial-contender Western Nebraska. After that, they host Otero and Lamar in the Broncbuster Classic on Nov. 9-10. Their biggest challenge may be later in the month when they play in the Trinity Valley Classic against Panola and South Plains on Nov. 23-24.

"We will find out really quick about what type of team we have," Mitchell said.