Henry Clay’s new basketball coach preaches patient progress toward intensity she desires
Hired at the start of the school year in August, Henry Clay’s new girls’ head basketball coach, Ashley Garrard, didn’t have much time to settle into her role before preseason workouts began.
She’s made the most of it and has the Blue Devils playing with the intensity she demands in their 6-6 start to the season. Last year, Henry Clay got sidelined by multiple COVID-19 shutdowns and finished 2-9.
“I’m definitely happy with the way they are shaping up,” said Garrard, who has been an assistant at Paris and a head coach for the Central Kentucky Storm AAU program. “I knew it was going to take awhile to mold them to what I want them to be. It’s baby steps.”
Though they lost their first four games, the Blue Devils made progress in each and won three straight before Thursday night’s 72-62 loss at 42nd District rival Frederick Douglass.
Henry Clay trailed the Broncos by as many as 21, but trimmed the deficit to seven in the fourth quarter despite being without Kennedy Williams, their leading rebounder and second-leading scorer. Williams was serving a suspension after an on-court incident in their win over Lafayette on Monday.
Even though Henry Clay made 11 of 25 threes to help them get back into the Douglass game, overall it shot just 35.7 percent for the game and had 22 turnovers. Still, the Blue Devils got 10 steals and helped force 28 Douglass turnovers.
“Defense is what’s going to get us to the region and the Sweet 16. If you believe and you buy into what I’m saying, you’re going to be fine,” Garrard said. “It’s slowly but surely working.”
A turning point came in a 70-67 loss at Bryan Station on Dec. 7,
“That was when it started clicking, really,” Garrard said. “Everybody said, ‘Yeah, we’re fighting back.’ But we still had 30 turnovers. … We were getting it over Christmas. I had more time in the gym.”
Offensively, Henry Clay has some answers, most notably sophomore standout Allison Stone, who leads the team with 16.8 points per game and grabs a second-best 6.5 rebounds per game. Stone scored a game-high 25 points against Douglass, including making five of eight three-pointers, many from well outside the arc.
“I’ve been around Alli for a while … Alli should be able to go Division I when she’s done,” Garrard said. “She’s one of the few girls you see in the 11th Region that jumps when she shoots. She elevates. When you see her shoot a three, she gets off the ground, and she has a nice shot.”
Garrard also has some other young players to build the program with. Freshman Ariyanna Sutton, sophomore Lydia VanMeter and sophomore Timari Miller average 9.8, 7.2 and 7 points per game, respectively.
While in a hole in 42nd District play with an 0-3 start against district foes, Garrard believes she has a team that can contend. Henry Clay has already beaten crosstown rivals Paul Laurence Dunbar and Lafayette.
“The good thing about Lexington is that it’s really wide open,” Garrard said. “I feel like there are more games coming up where we’ll be OK because we’re getting better.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 7:59 AM.
