As workouts begin (finally), SE Raleigh girls focusing on 5th straight NCHSAA final
The high school basketball season ended for most teams with the regular season or playoffs elimination, but Southeast Raleigh’s girls basketball program isn’t most programs.
The Bulldogs had won their fourth straight N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A East regional title and felt they were on the verge of their first state title after three consecutive regional losses. But once the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 state championship games, coach Nicole Meyers’ first offseason task was not looking ahead to 2020-21.
It was helping her players emotionally put behind them an unfulfilled season. Once the NCHSAA canceled all state championships, it named all the finalists state co-champions.
“We talked about how you can only control the things you can control,” Meyers said. “Canceling the championship game was out of our realm of control. We held on as long as we could until the decision to cancel. We had our peace about it.
“But we still found a way to celebrate the season,” Meyers said. “The girls got their state championship rings. The way the season ended does not take away all the that girls accomplished over the course of the season.”
The Wake County Public School System this week lifted its suspension of offseason workouts for basketball and swimming teams. Southeast Raleigh’s girls basketball players gathered Tuesday to learn COVID-19 safety protocols from the school’s trainers.
Teams can begin practice with tryouts on Dec. 7; the abbreviated regular season of 14 games doesn’t begin until January. The next sports to begin workouts in Wake County are boys soccer and boys and girls lacrosse (Nov. 9) and football (Nov. 30).
“It’s great to be with our teammates again,” said junior Bobbi Smith. “We’ve haven’t been in a gym together since the season ended. We’ve had to practice on our own. We’ll be working on building back that chemistry we had last year and making it even better.”
The Bulldogs lost four seniors now preparing for their first college basketball season, Anya Poole (North Carolina), Jamia Hazell (James Madison), Destini Abramson-Lee (Louisburg College) and De’Ja Morgan (Peace College).
Smith, a 5-foot-10 shooting guard, is a key piece to reloading this year’s roster. There are five returning seniors, Skylar Quillet, Zaniyah Holland, Morgan Graham, Mikayla Harris and Tamsi Echendu.
Smith has drawn scholarship offers from Charlotte, James Madison, East Carolina; Charleston College; N.C. Central and UNC-Wilmington. But she and other Division I prospects across the nation had their off-season disrupted by more than the lack of high school workouts.
In a normal year, Smith would have gone from the high school season ending in March to AAU tournaments throughout the spring months. Then off-season high school competition takes place in the summer.
In 2020, AAU tournaments designed to gain college exposure were suspended. They resumed in July with a limited schedule and restrictions; Smith played for the Carolina Flames that draws players from across the state. Only two family members per player could attend games. The players were required to use hand sanitizers entering and leaving the game.
For the Southeast Raleigh, routines were further disrupted as a year-round school. Classes resumed with the traditional calendar in August rather than in July. But their adjusted schedules now include a return to basketball.
“It hasn’t been an ideal situation, but they’re plowing through still finding ways to be successful,” Meyers said. “The girls are good students and self-motivated. I still monitor them, but it doesn’t take a lot of e harping on them.”