In their genes: Younger sisters making their own mark on high school basketball
Paul Laurence Dunbar juniors Elise Ellison-Coons and Tanaya Cecil are looking to put their own stamp on Lexington girls’ basketball as the Bulldogs aim for a third straight 43rd District crown.
They get to do so as teammates just a few years removed from the days when their older sisters faced off as rivals and two of the city’s best players ever.
“I don’t really like to be compared to my sister, because we’re two different players,” said Ellison-Coons, whose older sister, Kiara Pankins, was a two-time city player of the year at Lafayette (2016-2017). Ellison-Coons played with her as a seventh- and eighth-grader back then.
Cecil shrugs off comparison to her older sister, Mashayla, as well. Mashayla Cecil led Dunbar in scoring for much of her high school career, setting the city public school all-time scoring mark (just ahead of Pankins), and was both the city and 11th Region’s player of the year in 2018.
“We’re kind of the same,” Tanaya Cecil said, smiling. “But I’m more of a passing point guard and she — got her points.”
Tanaya can get her points, too, pouring in 16 against Lafayette last week. But she also shares a special connection with Ellison-Coons, who also happens to be her cousin.
“T always finds me somehow. I don’t know how,” Ellison-Coons said.
Ellison-Coons has averaged a double-double each of the last two years for Dunbar and is on pace to do the same this season.
“Elise is just a workhorse, man. She doesn’t get tired,” said Dunbar Coach Nick Runyon, in his fifth season. “She plays hard and her game is evolving. She’s probably going to play a 3 (small forward) in college, so we’re trying to put her more on the perimeter. We know she can post up. We’ve seen it. She does a good job doing that, but we’re trying to let her game evolve with her skill level.”
Cecil has stepped up her role significantly as a junior, averaging 12.4 points per game.
“Tanaya’s one of the smartest players we’ve ever had,” Runyon said. “She knows where the ball needs to go, who it needs to go to. We trust her with the ball.”
As a program, Dunbar has been in the shadow of Scott County and Franklin County over the last couple of years, but Runyon’s teams have been making steady progress toward being able to compete at the top level.
“If it’s not going to be this year, getting over that hump with Scott County and Franklin County, I think we’re close. We’re very close,” Runyon said.
This season, the Bulldogs (9-5) have wins over two teams who’ve been in the Cantrall Ratings’ top 25 (No. 12 Highlands and former No. 19 Ashland Blazer) and a one-point loss to No. 17 Conner. Their other losses have come from some of the state’s powerhouses, No. 19 Notre Dame, No. 6 Christian Academy-Louisville, No. 2 Elizabethtown and No. 3 Simon Kenton.
And they’re still young with major contributions from juniors DelTarria Jackson and Haley Gadd and sophomore Aziah Campbell.
“Elise and Tanaya and Del, they are leading by example and Z (Campbell) is stepping up,” Runyon said. “We know what we’re getting out of Elise and Tanaya. And Z has the keys to the car. The more determined that she plays … we can just keep going.”
Runyon said he has never compared Ellison-Coons and Cecil to their sisters. There’s no point. He’s coaching these girls.
When Ellison-Coons showed up at Dunbar’s freshman orientation and came to Runyon, “I said to her, ‘I never coached your sister, and I’ll never compare you to her. You are you. I know that your sister was good, but I don’t know anything about her.
“I’ve never put her as Kiara’s sister, she’s always been Elise. The same thing with Tanaya.”
Ellison-Coons gets pregame texts of encouragement from Pankins. And both Ellison-Coons and Cecil said their sisters have offered the same advice about playing basketball at the next level. Pankins is at Lindsey Wilson and Mashayla Cecil plays for Glenville State in West Virginia.
“Have fun while you’re in high school,” Tanaya Cecil said they’ve been told.
“College is no joke,” Ellison-Coons said. “She said it’s hard to balance basketball and school, but you’ve just got to get it done.”
For now, the goals are to get the top district seed and that third straight title. The Bulldogs have already notched three district wins and have tough tests coming up in the next few weeks. They face Scott County at home Tuesday night and the next two Saturdays bring district rival Lexington Catholic and 10th Region power Clark County.
“It’s fun to be around them. They make practices fun. They make games fun. They keep each other accountable,” Runyon said of his team. “We’re on a journey, and I hope it ends well. I don’t know where it’s going, but I hope it ends well.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 7:15 AM.
