Preseason Report - Louisville Central

After a day of practice working with the weighted ball and over-sized ball with Head Coach Deshawn D. Pendleton the Louisville Central Yellow Jackets are another day closer to the start of their season. With a demanding schedule ahead, they appear to be more than up to the challenge with a great group of veterans ready to go and some talented newcomers. Several players of the past appear poised to expand their roles and the defense looks like it is going to be tenacious yet again.   You can see these players on the court at the Queen of the Bluegrass or the Louisville Invitational Tournament known best as the LIT. While they do tend to play against teams outside of the city quite often it appears almost all of the teams not in the Louisville area are traveling to play at Central this season. That will be a great Home slate for the Yellow Jackets fans. I don't know if they have Season Tickets but this would be the year to buy if they do.     If you are looking for a write-up on [player_tooltip player_id='398020' first='Destiny' last='Jones'], I would like to direct you to an article I posted less than a week ago titled '24 Rankings Update - Power Forwards. She was not at this practice, so I have nothing new to add at this time. You can find it by clicking on her name.   [player_tooltip player_id='106147' first='Amaya' last='Asher'] - 5'7" - PG - Louisville Central - West Virginia Thunder - '23   Asher has committed to play in college basketball in the state of Illinois next season, but you still have some time to see her feed the ball to a talented frontcourt on the break one last winter in the Ville. She is a tough competitor, with great handles and court vision. There may not be anyone better on the break at finding open teammates and delivering the ball to them in a place where they can make a play with the ball. For some players, you cannot give them the ball in some spots for them to be successful but you can in others. Asher knows exactly when and where her teammates can be successful and hit them in the right spots every time. Asher has an excellent basketball IQ and is a consummate team player with a great feel for the game. She never seems to be hunting for her shot or trying to force the ball into places it cannot go. But I have never seen her neglect to call her own number when the situation calls for it or fail to probe the defense with what appears to be a momentary lapse. I have to believe her teammates love working with her. When they find an opening she finds them. When they have a mismatch she finds them. When something needs to happen she finds a way to get it done. Last season, Asher scored 11.4 points per game, grabbed 5.1 rebounds a night, and hit 31.5% of her three-pointers. In practice, I saw her nail a few free throw line jumpers, and three-pointers and drop several dime passes to teammates during drills and scrimmage play. She is apparently ready to run it back one more time before moving on.     [player_tooltip player_id='164404' first='Jala' last='Douglass'] - 5'10" - F - Louisville Central - '23   Douglas is one of the most improved players in the off-season. She has increased her ability to handle the ball and is a much better finisher than she was last season when she averaged 8.7 points per game on an already impressive 48.4% field goal shooting. She is more aggressive and more confident with the ball and that is going to pay off immensely with the less crowded frontcourt this winter. I think this season will be a breakout success for her in many facets of the game. She pulled down 192 rebounds, or 6.4 rebounds per game, last season and around 300 team rebounds just graduated out of the program. You can bet Douglas will be grabbing her share and maybe somebody else's share of those while she crashed the glass this season. She was actively getting steals in the press that she drove to the hoop for a strong finish through contact and driving from the short corner to finish through contact yet again. She will not be denied around the rim. I know, now, that we have spelled "JaLa Douglas" wrong on our site, but to be sure her name received the hyperlink I had to spell it that way one last time. Why doesn't anybody tell us these things?     JaKyra Bartlett - 4'11" - PG - Louisville Central - '23   Bartlett played in all 30 games last season and is an excellent on-ball defender and steadying force in the offense. This is the player most likely to have caused an opponent to mishandle a ball that she or another teammate scoops off the floor and takes to the house or to pick off a careless or lazy pass and speed it up the court to drop off to a teammate for the assist. Watch out for her. Her height lets her hide in plain sight and she takes advantage of that attribute.   An experienced ball handler is such a great asset for a Coach to have at the ready. Bartlett knows her value to the team, stays in her lane, and excels at it. She is always looking to make a play and being selfless. Putting the WE above the ME and that is how winning is done.     [player_tooltip player_id='493166' first='Ciara' last='Rudolph'] - 6'0" - SF - Louisville Central - '26   Rudolph is an impressive physical specimen for someone that is only a Freshman, already six foot tall and in great shape, with wing skills. That is not typical and despite my relative lack of knowledge of the current Freshman Class in the Commonwealth, I am inclined to believe we have her ranked too low at the moment. I could be wrong. There are several players on that list I have not seen play at all or very often. But let's just give it time to sort itself out. Thankfully we have four more years,   She seemed most comfortable with the elbow jumper and taking the ball to the hole at the moment. Her three-point shot is coming along and could be very effective this season. Defensively she has great defensive posture to allow her to slide with and stay with quick ballhandlers, and she has good timing with blocking shots in the paint. A little seasoning from playing against the kind of competition she will see this season will be good for her.     Miracle Thomas - 5'4" - G - Louisville Central - '23   Thomas looks to be ready to make more of a contribution this season based on what I saw in just one practice. She was able to knock down several outside shots and handled the ball fairly well when it was in her hands. After playing in only 16 games last season I am sure she would like to make her last season of high school basketball a good one. Her experience from playing 16 games last season will help provide extra stability during this '22-'23 season run.     Diamond Roach - 5'1" - G - Louisville Central - '25   Roach is newly available to the Varsity this season after a transfer. She has shown she can knock down the open three and plays tough defense. I am not certain if she is eligible right away but when available and needed she will provide another solid option for depth for Central.     Edniya Robinson - 5'11" - PF - Louisville Central - '24   Robinson made it clear that she can block shots and score through contact during the practice. She will provide some excellent depth this season in the frontcourt and help on the glass for the Yello Jackets. She made a great backdoor cut along the baseline to receive a pass and score during a half-court offense vs defense session. She played in 28 games last season and is the 5th returning leading scorer on the team. Her minutes will continue to be valuable to the success of the team.     Aniya Edwards - 5'5" - PG - Louisville Central - '24   Edwards is another strong ballhandler and perhaps the heir apparent at the Point next season. She has excellent quickness and is pushing other players with her defensive prowess. She displayed a good outside shot during this practice.

After a day of practice working with the weighted ball and over-sized ball with Head Coach Deshawn D. Pendleton the Louisville Central Yellow Jackets are another day closer to the start of their season. With a demanding schedule ahead, they appear to be more than up to the challenge with a great group of veterans ready to go and some talented newcomers. Several players of the past appear poised to expand their roles and the defense looks like it is going to be tenacious yet again.