New look for ORCA Warriors—Lady Warriors should be strong once again

 

 

 

By Greg Moore

Banner Sports Editor

Replacing the Player of the Year in the Kentucky Christian Athletic Association, Jake Meredith, for the longtime basketball staple of the Oak Ridge Warriors, Coach Joey Kirby, presents its own challenges. Multiply that with three more of your team’s starters, Eli Meredith, Harrison Hampton, and Eli Oaks, also moving on computes major hurdles; however, Coach Kirby will never fear taking his Warriors into battle on the hardwood.

The lone returning starter, junior Joseph Mason, will be supported with an incoming transfer in the backcourt as his new running mate, senior Matthew Simbro, who comes in after playing for Muhlenberg County prior. Joining Simbro and Mason in the starting lineup will be sophomore Kaleb Clark, who brings tremendous hops and an all-around sound game.

Another athletic sophomore making strides to minimize the pain from losing 80% of last year’s team’s scoring is Tanner Mudd. An incoming freshman, Landon Payne, is another young player who has jumped into the mixed bag of Coach Kirby’s new look Warriors. The Warriors will once again get a decently balanced attack from his squad.

Coach Kirby and his brother, Adam, another fixture at Oak Ridge, enjoy the challenge of developing the Oak Ridge Warriors into the type of cohesiveness to compete on a regular basis. Facing the adversity of not bringing back most of your minutes while unifying a group that has not played consistently together for an extended amount of time, brings a glow to the brothers’ faces.

And finding the balance and chemistry is already beginning to transpire early in the season for the Warriors. “Taking advantage of those maturation moments while building growth throughout the season will be essential for us making a little upset-run in the Super Regionals and at the State Tournament,” Coach Kirby specified. “We are definitely going to be a team that nobody wants to see coming at the end of February,” Coach Kirby continued.

“Our future looks bright in the upcoming years,” Coach Adam shared. Getting an abundance of middle school and JV games is paving the way for these youngsters, which includes a couple of second-generation Kirby’s, Mason and Noah, both 8^th graders at ORCA. 7^th grader Maxtin Geary comes over from Ohio County and is making significant contributions at the middle school level. Confidence seems to ooze out of these young hoopsters.

 

 

The Lady Warriors also lost some key contributors from the 2023-24 team that went 14-2 throughout the regular season and postseason. Allie Meredith and Hannah Burden both graduated, and Shay Oaks has decided to not play this season. However, the JV Lady Warriors finished 8-2 and captured another JV State Championship behind a solid group of underclass ladies ready to take charge.

 

 

This past weekend, over at the gymnasium in Oak Ridge, some of those girls got to put that on display. 8^th grader Emmie McIntosh took home the MVP of the 2024 KCAA Girls Holiday Classic. McIntosh’s role was ever more demanding with another starter, sophomore Lexi Bratcher, not able to participate due to an ankle injury.

Senior Cadence Cardwell will be a true leader on the court for the Lady Warriors’ first year Head Coach Nathan Burton. Cardwell, who was named to the All-Tourney Team at the Holiday Classic, brings a great deal of experience. Cadence’s sister, Zoey, packs a punch as she handles the basketball quite a bit for ORCA. She is another sophomore that has been around the program for many years. Freshman twins, Jas-Lynn and Jadrien Bastin will play many minutes for Coach Burton. Jadrien was named to the All-Tournament Team over the weekend, also.

In the championship of the Holiday Classic, Oak Ridge defeated the Academy for Individual Excellence out of Jeffersontown. The AIE Lady Cougars were ranked number one in the KCAA, but with the loss to the ORCA Lady Warriors, a new team may take that spot over in the near future. However, Coach Burton and his staff realize what matters most will be the continuity throughout the season while striving to obtain near-perfection when it is all on the line, the postseason.

 

 

The Oak Ridge Lady Warriors looked primed to win the KCAA State Championship this season; however, the Lady Warriors will take the season one game at a time. Working on cohesiveness while sharpening strengths will be mandatory during game situations, but presenting challenges for these young ladies in practice times will be paramount, also. Look for big things to happen for the Oak Ridge Lady Warriors this season and years to come.