Harvey returns two starters and four others with varsity experience from last season, and the Red Raiders are hungry to compete.
Last season, the Red Raiders finished 5-18 overall.
“We have a great group of young ladies who seek to get better every time they step on the court,” said Harvey’s seventh-year head coach Jerimie Acree. “At this point of the season, I feel that we’ll give every opponent we face all they can handle, and we’ll live with the results.”
The Red Raiders aren’t big, but they have an overabundance of heart and a drive to compete.
“Our ladies are relentless to say the least,” Acree said. “We don’t have much size, but we’ll turn that into a strength by maximizing our speed and athleticism on the defensive end of the court and converting turnovers into easy buckets.”
Harvey returns two players who earned All-Chagrin Valley Conference honors last winter.
Haleigh Lewis is a 5-foot-5 junior guard who averaged 8.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.9 assists per game on the way to earning honorable mention All-CVC.
“Haleigh is so dynamic on the basketball court,” Acree said. “She can get to the rim at will and has improved her perimeter shooting, which will make her even tougher to guard. I believe Haleigh will take her game to the next level this year.”
De’Yonna Jackson, a 5-foot-7 junior guard, averaged 9.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.8 steals. She also was named honorable mention all-conference.
“De’Yonna has never seen a shot she didn’t like, and we love that about her,” Acree said. “Our leading scorer from last year is looking to build off of that by scoring from all three levels this year. She has shown great improvement on the defensive side of the floor due to her length and instinct.”
Dede Crawford, Jayla Holloway, and Jaz Miller round out the projected starting lineup.
Crawford is a 5-foot-5 junior guard who averaged 5.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 1.2 assists as a sophomore.
“Tenacious on-ball defender,” Acree said of Crawford. “Dede can guard opposing players 94 feet making opposing guards uncomfortable. She led our team in steals last year and rebounded the ball very well for a player her size. Dede impacts the game in so many ways.”
Holloway, a 5-foot-6 junior guard/forward, averaged over two rebounds per contest last season.
“Jayla is a program builder,” Acree said. “Our staff loves the energy and positivity she brings to our team. She is one of the best overall athletes in the school. Jayla is a four-sport athlete whose athleticism is second to none. All Jayla needs to do is believe. She’s the great athlete we all witness every day in practice and once that happens, watch out.”
Miller is a 5-foot-5 sophomore guard. She pulled down 1.2 rebounds per game last season.
“Jaz has the potential to be an impact player for us for the next three years,” Acree said. “Her ability to catch and shoot is a primary strength of hers that we look to build on. She’s a hard worker and that’s what will take her game to the next level.”
Harvey has a senior, a junior, two sophomores, and two freshmen who will provide depth.
De’Jeira Germany is a 5-foot-6 senior guard forward and Quortney Johnson is a 5-foot-6 junior forward.
“I’m looking forward to seeing De’Jeira’s growth and development this year. Her positive attitude and willingness to help others on the team makes her a true leader within our program. Every program needs players like De’Jeira because they help with improving the team’s culture, which is vital to every team’s success,” Acree said. “I’m so proud of (Quortney). The improvement that Quortney has made on and off the court has been phenomenal. Quortney now is playing more confidently and with a faster pace which will contribute to the team. The more on-the-court experience she gains, the more confident she’ll become.”
The sophomores are Neaushia Rowell, a 5-foot-9 forward, and Jah Winters, a 5-foot guard.
“NeeNee is one of our hidden gems. Her size and length in the next couple years will help take our team to the next level. Our challenge to NeeNee is to own the paint by protecting the rim and rebounding the basketball. I’m going to love seeing how she progresses over the next three years,” Acree said. “(Winters is) one of the fastest players I’ve coached on the basketball court. Jah can disrupt opposing teams’ backcourts with her on-the-ball defense and overall athleticism. Once we get Jah to invest some time into the offseason, the staff believes that she can help boost our program.”
Kim Aguayo, a 5-foot guard, and Kilah Snyder, a 5-foot-5 guard, are the freshmen.
“(Kim) is so talented. She’s a natural ball handler who possesses great awareness on the court. The biggest challenge for Kim is to commit to getting better on the defensive end of the court which can help her shine of the offensive end,” Acree said. “Kilah naturally can shoot the basketball like her older brothers Mataeo and Dominic Snyder. Once Kilah gets comfortable with the speed and physicality of high school basketball, her confidence will skyrocket. I can’t wait to observe how her game improves these next four years.”
Harvey is on the smaller side of things when it comes to size but that’s something the Red Raiders have dealt with over the years.
Acree will do what he can to put his players in the right positions to box out and defend the rim, and he’ll use his deep bench to maintain an aggressive style of defense.
“Our lack of size seems to be our challenge every year,” he said. “We also will have to rely on players who don’t have very much on-the-court experience, so we know that the first third of the season for us will be a learning experience for some of our ladies.”
Harvey is out to surpass their win total from last season and academically, to maintain a 3.0 team GPA.
To do that, the Red Raiders have to follow a winning formula.
“We have to hold teams to 40 points or less and limit turnovers and rebounding,” Acree said. “When we accomplish those three things, we have a shot to beat anyone.”
