Braxton Citizens' News, Schools, Sports

Lady Eagles to open season with back-to-back home games

By Shirley Shuman

BCHS girls’ varsity head coach Bill Lunceford and his team look forward to their home opening game against Trinity Thursday night followed by a second, this one against Gilmer, the following night.  Coach Lunceford, in his second year as Lady Eagles’ head coach, discussed what he has seen of his players so far.

“With five returning starters, we have experience,” the coach said. “We have one senior—Bre Smarr. The other four starters are juniors, and all are looking forward to the season.”  The coach added, “Including the five returning starters, we’re bringing seven girls back who know what I expect and who know the plays. We also have some size along with physical strength.”

In addition to Smarr, the returning starters include Adrian Lunceford, Erica Nicholson, SkyLynn Abraham, and Paxton Conley. The other two returning players are sophomores Laura Cain and Lillie Fitzwater.  Rounding out the roster are freshmen Bailey Pritt, Lauren Pritt, Lila Fitzwater, Raegan Brown, Jaden Foster, and Annabelle Shaver.

Asked whether the team will be going with the fast break or more deliberate play, Coach Lunceford responded, “Hopefully we can do both. There are some teams we can’t run with, and we recognize that. We’re a balanced team. We can do whatever we need to do.”

Looking at this week’s opponents, the Braxton coach noted, “Both teams are very well coached.   Trinity is a talented team and is in our section. That makes this first game important because it might dictate home court advantage for sectionals.”  Lunceford continued to say he doesn’t know how many players Gilmer has returning, but emphasized that the team did make it to the state tournament last year.

Lady Eagles’ fans have a double treat this week with two home games. Each begins at 7 p.m.

The Lady Eagles prepared for their season opener with two scrimmage games last week against Lincoln and Grafton. See pictorial coverage of those games on page 11 of this issue.