Freshman NeVaeh Day should be an impact player for the Lady Colonels
After a season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Christian County Lady Colonels are looking to take some big steps forward during the 2021-2022 season, led by the return of a blend of senior leadership and the return of a couple of the best young players in the region. The Lady Colonels will enter the season as one of the teams that could be a difficult matchup for opponents from beginning to end.
After last season was delayed until a January start, the Lady Colonels had to wait a while longer as they began the season in COVID protocols. Christian County would end up waiting until January 18th to take to the hardwood for the first time. The Lady Colonels would open winning five of their first seven and appeared to be getting ready to go on a nice run.
Then February hit, and Christian County could not. The Lady Colonels would struggle to get the ball in the basket and those struggles would haunt them the rest of the season. Christian County would finish 6-10, losing to Madisonville in the opening round of the girls’ 2nd Region tournament.
The good news out of that was that some of the young players for the Lady Colonels got extensive playing time and should be ready to roll coming out of the gate for the 2021-2022 season.
Two of those younger players could hold the keys to a successful season for Christian County. 8th grader Anaysia Bagwell should be the point guard from the opening tip this season, and if she develops as much as she did last season, she is going to cause problems for defenders all across the area. Bagwell finished last year as the Lady Colonels’ leading scorer at 9.4 points per game. Her passing skills improved dramatically as the season rolled on and she should be in a position to help set her teammates up for success this season.
NeVaeh Day gave indication last season of just how good she might be and could be an incredibly difficult matchup for opponents this year. Day, who may be shortchanged by being listed at 5-5 ½ on the Christian County roster is a long-player who is not afraid to mix it up down in the paint. As skilled as she is on offense, Day’s presence on defense may even be more disruptive. Over the summer, Coach Kiki Radford used Day on the point of a 1-2-1-1 press, and let’s just say point guards across the area could have nightmares if Radford elects to unleash the press for long stretches of time.
In terms of “older” players, keep your eyes on Mikayah Killebrew and Destinee Catlett-Watkins. The two seniors both had their moments last season and both have the ability to light it up at any time. Killebrew averaged 8.1, while Catlett-Watkins average 6.2 a game last year. Both will be counted on to be bigger parts of the offense and to help crash the boards.
Coach Kiki Radford says she will be counting a great deal on her seniors this season. “We will look to our senior class to step up and lead our team. They have been doing a great job being leaders on and off the court. Our seniors are Destinee Catlett-Watkins who will handle the ball a lot for us and is our floor general. She also brings the intensity on the defensive side being 2nd on the team the past few seasons in steals. Mikayah Killebrew will be another senior we expect to lead our team. She can score inside and out and will be another defensive presence. She has led the team in steals the past few seasons. She is quick and brings length to the defense. Her intensity level is what we will need on the defensive end. Shaniah Bridges and Caitlin Steele are seniors that we will look to knock down the outside shot.”
Radford says Bridges and Steele are two “new” faces that she is counting on to play important roles this season. “Shaniah Bridges and Caitlin Steele are seniors that set last year out. They have returned and are eager to help this team win. Both can knock down the outside shot and also are key additions on the defensive end.”
With the loss of Reni Shemwell and Trinity McGee, Sarah Harris should see a significantly increased role down in the paint. Harris, who averaged 2.2 rebounds per game last year will need to be a presence in the lane and increase that rebounding total significantly for the Lady Colonels.
One thing is certain, the Lady Colonels will have to shoot the ball better in 2021-2022. Christian County shot 32-percent from the field, 19.6-percent from behind the arc, and 42.8-percent from the line last year. All of those numbers will need to rise for the Lady Colonels to achieve the goals they have for this season.
Coach Radford says one positive difference coming into the season is that there have not been the restrictions due to the pandemic that there were last season. ‘The biggest difference between this year’s team and last year’s team is the fact that we have been able to have all players at practice and have been able to have the preseason time we need to prepare for the season. We have been able to hit the weight room and get the condition in that we need to prepare our bodies for a full season. We have had the time needed to get the chemistry we need to be one unit.”
The Lady Colonels will be well tested by the schedule this year. Home games, in addition to the normal district matchups, will include battles against Greenwood, Madisonville, Bowling Green, Lyon County, Murray, Daviess County, and Hopkins Central.
Road and neutral-site games include Owensboro Catholic, Muhlenberg County, Ohio County, Dixie Heights, Calloway County, and Webster County.
Christian County will open the season on the road November 30 when they take on Muhlenberg County.
