By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Ehrhardt — David Johnson is nearing the end of his third season as the head girls’ basketball coach at Andrew Jackson Academy (11-10, 3-2) and each season continues to build on the previous one.
After his team’s 39-26 win at St. Johns Christian Academy on January, 25 Coach Johnson told the HSSR, “I have a young team and they have been really working hard and they are starting to turn the corner a little bit,” said Coach Johnson. “Tonight, freshman Bella Carigg came off the bench and led us in scoring with 13 points.
“We have a lot of freshmen in our starting line-up and you just have to wait on them but as a team we are starting to turn the corner,” said Coach Johnson. “We have seven games left and four of them are region contests. Our goal is to win all our remaining region games and that could place us second behind Cathedral.
“Right now, we are in third place in the region with Clarendon Hall in second place,” said Coach Johnson. “We need to finish strong and get a good seed for the playoffs.”
Freshman power forward McKinley Beard (5-9) leads the team in scoring at 11.9 points a game including 5.9 rebounds. She also has 23 blocked shots on the season. Co-captain Rileigh Barnes is a junior point guard averaging 2.5 steals a game and she distributes the ball really well.
The team’s other co-captain is senior power forward Alli Polk who is a good on-ball defender averaging 4.5 rebounds a game. Junior Ryleigh Trivette starts at one wing and she is averaging 5.5 rebounds a game. Harlo Sease, an 8th grader, rounds out the starting group and she is a shooting guard averaging 5.5 points a game.
Carrigg is a sometimes starter and she plays very well off the bench. She is averaging 11.6 points and 2.9 steals a game. The remaining players on the team include 8th grade shooting guard Scarlett Mixon and senior power forward Aliona Kinard.
“We are playing our best when we get into an up-tempo game that allows us to score baskets in transition,” said Coach Johnson. “We also like to press and score off of turnovers. We like to attack the basket also.”
The Lady Warriors have two region games left against Dorchester Academy (Jan,26 and Feb., 9), one with Cathedral (Jan., 30) and Clarendon Hall (Feb., 5th).
Some of AJA’s win this season have come over Holly Hill Academy, Jefferson Davis Academy, Faith Christian, Colleton Prep, HTCC and St. Johns Christian.
Coach Johnson is assisted by his wife Vickey Johnson.
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