They went 3-25 last season. Now, they’re favored to play in the Sweet Sixteen.
Last season, Scott’s girls’ basketball team finished 3-25, dead last in the 10th Region.
This season, the undefeated Lady Eagles (6-0) came in as the Herald-Leader’s preseason No. 24 team and are among the favorites for the region title and its bid to the state tournament.
How can this be?
“We got healthy,” second-year coach Steve Brown explained ahead of his team’s game against Bourbon County on Tuesday.
They also got better — key returnees join a battle-hardened group that has set its sights on success.
With Mya Meredith, a 6-foot senior guard and Western Kentucky University commit, back in the fold after returning from an ACL tear, and Sofia Allen, another 6-foot senior who has developed into a college-caliber player in her absence, the Eagles appear poised to hand out some of the lumps they took a year ago.
Scott, a school with an enrollment of about 1,000 located in Taylor Mill, just south of Covington in Kenton County, got a grinding 54-43 victory over the Colonels on Tuesday.
“It’s a win,” Brown said. “When you go on the road in the 10th Region, it’s going to be tough.”
But any difficulties this season, even with problems surrounding playing amid the pandemic, are welcome challenges compared to what the team endured last year. And that experience has helped forge a better team.
“Last season was huge for two or three of our players, because they got some extended minutes,” Brown said. “Madelyn Wilson got a tremendous amount of experience last year. And it’s really helped her … Last year, we had to go out and play against the top 10 teams in the state night in and night out with kids that had basically JV minutes on their resume.”
Allen, a University of Tampa commit, became the focal point for many of the opponents’ defenses a year ago and still managed 13.9 points per game for a team that averaged 46 points per outing. Having Meredith back has relieved a lot of pressure on everyone and has the Eagles averaging in the 70s, now.
Allen realizes how important last season’s struggles are to this year’s success.
“I think it shows during (this) season. Now we’re undefeated instead of losing,” Allen said. “It was very frustrating, but I think we all learned. The younger girls have stepped up. Our chemistry has gotten better. We just flow now.”
Brown took over a Scott team that went 23-11 in 2018-19 and appeared poised for success despite the loss of key players to graduation.
But Meredith, then a junior, tore an ACL two minutes into their first game of the 2019-20 season. A month later, freshman point guard Ava Coleman also tore an ACL a week after a breakout 19-point performance in the team’s first win of the season.
“It was very hard, not being out there to be able to help my teammates out,” Meredith said. “I know they needed another person out there, like another piece. So just to be back is like a blessing. And helping my team is what I’m here to do.”
Meredith continues to work herself back into basketball shape. Coleman has also recovered from her injury, but COVID-19 issues have kept her sidelined for a time. So, Meredith has picked up more time at point guard.
“It’s very tiring, but it’s fun to lead the team and be a leader, helping the younger ones out,” Meredith said.
Despite the limitations, Meredith leads the team in scoring with 21 points per game, followed by three other players in double figures, Allen (19), Wilson (10.8) and Payton Fields (10.4). Wilson and Allen each average better than eight rebounds per game.
Brown anticipates his team will prove even tougher when Coleman, a 5-10 sophomore, is able to return.
“We haven’t had our starting five intact since the first game this year,” Brown said. “Ava Coleman is extremely important to us because of her length and her court savvy.”
And Meredith and Allen don’t shy from the increased expectations.
“For us, it’s all about focusing, and never losing sight of the future. We want to make it to state. That’s our No. 1 goal,” Allen said. “We’re all working together trying to get to that goal.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 12:20 PM.
