Lady Red Devils poised to ‘make some noise’
As he returns for his 19th season coaching girls basketball, Richie Hester is preparing for the typical approach to each season when it comes to coaching the Vina Lady Red Devils: Replace a prolific scorer and develop the younger players in real time.
The Lady Red Devils will have to find a way to compensate for the loss of center Khlyee Brooks, who averaged 12 points per game in addition to a handful of double-doubles to her credit as well. However, Vina does return quite a bit of talent.
Junior guard Layla Hester, who averaged 13 points to go along with five assists and five steals per game a year ago, will be tasked with setting up the offense and commanding things on the defensive side of the ball as well.
“Last year, we had a lot of injuries and we lost Khylee (Brooks) to graduation,” Hester said. “We’ve had to rely on some of our younger players to get the job done and get us where we need to be. Players like Layla have to stay healthy and stay on the court.”
Seniors Braxtyn Quinn, Harley Ridge and Miranda King will also factored heavily into Vina’s plans this year, Hester said, along with 6’1” eighth grader Cecilia Rowbottom, who will start on varsity this season.
