HASKELL BASKETBALL
Who will take charge for the Haskell Lady Haymakers in 2025? That will be the question that coach Michael W. Jones will be seeking to answer as the new season is set to start.
“We lost a good percentage of our scoring from last year but we’re optimistic about our chances this year as we have made significant progress,” said Jones.
The Lady Haymakers will return a good mix of veteran players and newcomers led by Natalee Deckard (5-5, Sr..) who is the leading returning scorer and an excellent team leader according to Jones. She’s joined by fellow seniors Cheyenne Morgan (6-0) and Akeelah Anderson (5-4). Juniors Ava Draper (5-4), Nikyah Hutchinson (5-5) and Kannon Lawley (5-6) will seek to break into the starting lineup while providing depth off the bench as needed while sophomores Evie Bonebrake (5-8), Alaysia Lang (5-5), Mia Pearson (5-2,) and Ebony Draper (5-9) will also be pushing for time on the varsity floor. The guys are in a similar situation as coach Josh Greer sees progress being made in the program, but the question is will it come this year?
“The struggle we will have this year is that we are young and pretty inexperienced. Our returning starters understand what we are trying to do and build upon and we have good foundation of seniors who are stepping up to be good leaders,” said Greer. “We will have 15 freshmen on the roster with one of them, M.J. Johnson, probably starting for us.”
Returning starters for the Haymakers are Grayson Cheatham (5-7, So.), Ethan Lance (5-10, So.), Jacob Yocham (6-0, Sr.) and Ryker Fagg (6-0, Sr.). Greer is also expecting a breakout season for Marqus Williams (6-3, So.). There will be lots of opportunities for other seniors and juniors to make their mark as well including seniors Jaevion Thompson (5-11), J.J. Bonebrake (6-0), and Keon Tottress (6-4), and juniors Christian Tharp (5-9), Isaiah Vanbrunt (5-9) and Jacobi Jones (5-10). The underclassmen and Greer’s hope for future success includes sophomore Di’Carri Sayers (6-2) and freshmen Marlin Johnson (6-5), Owen Wells (6-2), Gabe and Dane Bonebrake (5-9), Brody Cheatham (5-8), Tyler Benoit (5-10), Anthony Moreno (5-8), Cash Calvert (5-9), Emmanuel Alfaro (5-9), Kade Foster (5-5), Ricky Walker (5-7), Silas Harris (5-6), Jordan Guess (5-3) and Adan Lopez (6-2).
