Junior varsity Lady Braves wrap up season

With the recent completion of the new Potter Junior High School gymnasium comes a long-awaited home court advantage for the Potter Junior High School Lady Braves basketball team.

When tryouts for the squad(s) started in early February, the coaches for the Junior Varsity 7th grade girls (Raider Bill with assistance from Amy Boren) and Varsity 8th grade girls (Andy Vanderlann) hit an all-time high.

The league was well organized, thanks to Cindy Lloyd, athletic director at Sullivan Middle School (Bonsall). Both divisions (East and West) were extremely competitive. Potter, in the East Division, kicked off their season against Roosevelt Middle School, a high-impact team with outstanding offense and defense. What an eye-opener it was for us; we were handed our first loss. It was only after that loss that we realized it was time for us to get down to business, and that’s exactly what the girls did. From that point on, the team never looked back.

For the next nine games of the season, the junior varsity Lady Braves went undefeated, earning them the Eastern Division Championship. Their wins continued into the first round of the single elimination play-offs, where they faced the number one seed in the West Division - San Elijo. The Lady Braves won 39-25 over a talented and well-coached San Elijo team, placing the Lady Braves in the championship game against Madison Middle School’s Lady Mavericks. The Lady Mavericks won the game by a score of 21-15.

The Lady Braves include Sylvia Hughes, a total magician when it comes to dribbling through the defense and finishing with a lay-up; Lauren Copeland, shooting guard and a very athletic young lady; shooting guard Irayda (Carmen) Macedo, one of the best defensive players on our team; back-up point guard Kimberly Perez, who listens, learns and executes great moves on the court; and the versatile Ashley Ross, who could play any position on the court. Daijon Sumpter, playing at the three guard position, is the player who totally believed in communicating, not only with her teammates, but the opposition as well. Daijon put fear into quite a number of girls just by getting into their face on defense and screaming “Ball! Ball! Ball!” And they eventually turned the ball over. In addition, we had a four-pack of gentle giants who share the role of post players - Dahnizia Colmenar plays the four, and is one of the best at rebounding and scoring; Priscilla Guadarrama is a first-year player who showed great enthusiasm for shooting baskets; Briana Lipkins is one tough cookie and a coach’s dream when it comes to the post layer. Rounding out our line-up in our foursome of post players is Dominique Tuisee, an offensive and defensive powerhouse.

Special thanks go out to all the parents, especially Miriam Lipkins, for getting on the court and practicing with us; Thomas Stewart for all of the candid shots; Ricardo Ruiz for always having the Potter gym setup and for operating the clock during our home games. A special thank you goes to the staff of the Boys & Girls Club for their support when we made it to the championship. Last, but definitely not least, special thanks to Assistant Coach Amy Boren, a former player who has always been a blessing.