The Big Reds have big goals this season, and the team has the skill set and confidence to back it up.
By Jon Styf
LocalSportsJournal.com
The past two seasons, the Muskegon girls basketball team was the young team, filled with enough talent to roll to a 14-0 OK Green Conference record a year ago.
Now, the Big Reds want more.
Last season ended abruptly with a district semifinal loss to state semifinalist Rockford, state champs the year before.
While Muskegon can’t control its playoff draw, it can control the regular-season schedule. So the now junior-led Big Reds will be facing some of the best teams in the state as they prepare to be a menace in the state playoffs.
Led by arguably the best backcourt in the state with juniors Mariah Sain and Camiyah Bonner, the Big Reds scheduled East Kentwood, Detroit Edison, Belleville, Rockford, Grand Blanc, Traverse City Central and Haslett all in the first month and a half of the season before starting conference play.
“We are no longer the young ones entering the gym now,” Muskegon coach Bernard Loudermill said. “Their maturity has to take over at some point and help us to get some wins.”
Sain has traveled the country on the AAU and AYBT circuit, seeing some of the best competition in the U.S.
She thinks her team’s experience and chemistry will help them depend less on Loudermill to direct things on the court as they have the experience to work through things more often on their own.
“It will be a better flow to how we play, how we run everything, how we play defense, how we get up the floor,” Sain said.
For Loudermill, improvement is in the details. Less turnovers, better free-throw shooting and improved interior play.
A big part of that is 6-foot-3 sophomore Dy’Nasti Bell, who showed promise heading into her freshman season before breaking a bone in her foot on the jump ball of the Big Reds first preseason scrimmage, against Lansing Waverly, last year and missing the entire season.
She worked to recover without surgery, then had the surgery and fully rehabbed while missing the whole summer as well before being cleared in late August. At the end of October, she had a stress fracture and missed a few weeks while wearing a boot, but now Bell believes she’ll be good to go to start the season.
“I went to every single game,” Bell said. “I was there for my team even when I wasn’t able to play.”
Bell said she will bring her positivity to the team chemistry, helping the team both mentally and in the post.
“For the next three years, we should be able to make it to where we’re trying to go.”
Returning to the frontcourt will be senior Nadia Hill, who will provide a defensive spark off the bench. Sain knows that Bell’s addition will be a boost for the offense, including on the boards as she increased the Big Reds’ chances at second-chance scoring.
“It gives us the chance to play the in-and-out game and the pick and roll game,” Sain said. “It gives us another big body in the paint.”
The team’s other two seniors are small forward Kamrin Ward, who has an offer from Aquinas, and shooting guard Shamari Hamilton.
Jaila Martin is the team’s third returning starter from the junior class while Kennedi Loudermill will come off the bench.
Freshman Antanique Sargent will be the other underclassman on the experienced team while juniors Jamiyah Ezell and Jamiyah Franklin will be on the varsity team for the first time.
The Big Reds’ experience will likely show in the early-season gauntlet as they prepare for another run through the OK-Green.
“The expectations really have to get set high with these young ladies because they have high expectations of themselves,” Loudermill said.
That means emphasizing the details and improving in parts of the game where their opponents find an edge.
For Sain, that meant improving her jump shot this season and concentrating on keeping defenders honest.
“Our opponents know that I primarily like to drive, so now they start to sag back,” Sain said. “Now I just have to trust my jump shot that I’ve been working on a lot.”
The Big Reds have big goals this season, but the team has the skill set and confidence to back it up.
“This year, we’re ready to go,” Bell said. “Most of the underclassmen are ready to win this year for our seniors this year.”
LocalSportsJournal.com
The past two seasons, the Muskegon girls basketball team was the young team, filled with enough talent to roll to a 14-0 OK Green Conference record a year ago.
Now, the Big Reds want more.
Last season ended abruptly with a district semifinal loss to state semifinalist Rockford, state champs the year before.
While Muskegon can’t control its playoff draw, it can control the regular-season schedule. So the now junior-led Big Reds will be facing some of the best teams in the state as they prepare to be a menace in the state playoffs.
Led by arguably the best backcourt in the state with juniors Mariah Sain and Camiyah Bonner, the Big Reds scheduled East Kentwood, Detroit Edison, Belleville, Rockford, Grand Blanc, Traverse City Central and Haslett all in the first month and a half of the season before starting conference play.
“We are no longer the young ones entering the gym now,” Muskegon coach Bernard Loudermill said. “Their maturity has to take over at some point and help us to get some wins.”
Sain has traveled the country on the AAU and AYBT circuit, seeing some of the best competition in the U.S.
She thinks her team’s experience and chemistry will help them depend less on Loudermill to direct things on the court as they have the experience to work through things more often on their own.
“It will be a better flow to how we play, how we run everything, how we play defense, how we get up the floor,” Sain said.
For Loudermill, improvement is in the details. Less turnovers, better free-throw shooting and improved interior play.
A big part of that is 6-foot-3 sophomore Dy’Nasti Bell, who showed promise heading into her freshman season before breaking a bone in her foot on the jump ball of the Big Reds first preseason scrimmage, against Lansing Waverly, last year and missing the entire season.
She worked to recover without surgery, then had the surgery and fully rehabbed while missing the whole summer as well before being cleared in late August. At the end of October, she had a stress fracture and missed a few weeks while wearing a boot, but now Bell believes she’ll be good to go to start the season.
“I went to every single game,” Bell said. “I was there for my team even when I wasn’t able to play.”
Bell said she will bring her positivity to the team chemistry, helping the team both mentally and in the post.
“For the next three years, we should be able to make it to where we’re trying to go.”
Returning to the frontcourt will be senior Nadia Hill, who will provide a defensive spark off the bench. Sain knows that Bell’s addition will be a boost for the offense, including on the boards as she increased the Big Reds’ chances at second-chance scoring.
“It gives us the chance to play the in-and-out game and the pick and roll game,” Sain said. “It gives us another big body in the paint.”
The team’s other two seniors are small forward Kamrin Ward, who has an offer from Aquinas, and shooting guard Shamari Hamilton.
Jaila Martin is the team’s third returning starter from the junior class while Kennedi Loudermill will come off the bench.
Freshman Antanique Sargent will be the other underclassman on the experienced team while juniors Jamiyah Ezell and Jamiyah Franklin will be on the varsity team for the first time.
The Big Reds’ experience will likely show in the early-season gauntlet as they prepare for another run through the OK-Green.
“The expectations really have to get set high with these young ladies because they have high expectations of themselves,” Loudermill said.
That means emphasizing the details and improving in parts of the game where their opponents find an edge.
For Sain, that meant improving her jump shot this season and concentrating on keeping defenders honest.
“Our opponents know that I primarily like to drive, so now they start to sag back,” Sain said. “Now I just have to trust my jump shot that I’ve been working on a lot.”
The Big Reds have big goals this season, but the team has the skill set and confidence to back it up.
“This year, we’re ready to go,” Bell said. “Most of the underclassmen are ready to win this year for our seniors this year.”
