On Friday, March 7th, the Lady Jackets won the district championship 56-23 against the 15-9 Jackson Christian Royals. The Yellowjackets beat them in a great team effort, with Bradie Lehman leading the way with 20 points, Ciera Barrett contributing 14, and Grace Thorrez chipping in 11.
Arshawn Parker is a second-year coach here at Concord High School. Parker has already had lots of success here at Concord, changing the program from 4-17 the year before he came, to 20-6 his first year. Parker led the team last year to a district championship, and the regional final before they sadly fell short. The Lady Jackets came back more prepared, being 20-4 so far, as well as winning the Big 8 championship. Then securing the win in the district championship against Jackson Christian. When asked what they did well against the Royals, Parker states, “I think we did really well staying focused and playing hard, especially since we hadn’t played in almost a week and a half.” When asked what he thinks they could have done better, he adds, “ We could improve on shaking off the rust early game, and executing our plays better.” Parker talks extremely highly about his team’s play stating how overall his team played hard for most of the game and stuck to their gameplan.
Junior Ciera Barrett is a key piece in this team’s all-around success and is one of the main leaders on this Yellowjacket squad. Barrett was vital in their win on Friday, having 14 points, 10 rebounds, and being a great leader on the court. One good thing about the Jackets is how good their offense is, often outscoring opponents as much as 30. When asked what the key to their good offense is, Barrett adds, “ We’re good at executing our sets and getting in the plays we practice fast and efficiently. We’re also really good at pushing in transition, controlling the tempo of the game.” When asked what she thought of her excellent performance, Barrett says, “I think I played pretty good, one thing I need to improve on is being more aggressive and taking shots when they come to me more.” Barrett notes how she thinks the Yellowjackets are playing their best basketball and have done so much preparing for the games ahead.
Another extremely important piece on this yellowjacket team is senior captain Hannah Stimer. Often, Stimer is checked in the entire game or close to it, being a key piece to this team’s success. As a senior, every game coming up could be her last. When asked what her mindset was going into every game knowing that, she says, “It’s tough knowing these are my last games. I’ve been playing basketball my whole life, so it’s hard to see it come to an end. I just want to make sure I leave it all out there and take my teammates along with me.” Stimer adds how her mindset is to “Take every game like a new opportunity, and play like it’s my last because it might be.”
The Yellow Jackets are rolling winning the last 6 games in a row, and are hoping to keep the streak alive in their upcoming regional semifinal game against the Portland St. Patrick Shamrocks Monday March 10th, 5:30 pm at Concord High School. Come support the Jackets on their path to history, as we wish them luck to keep their winning streak hot going deeper into the playoffs.
