By Jim Irish
Photos by Dustyn Werner
Bastrop girls established themselves as probably the best team in school history this past season.
The Bears set a school record in victories with a 34-5 overall record. They began the season with an 11-0 run and pushed the record to 20-1.
In District 24-5A, Bastrop compiled a 12-2 mark with its only two losses against district champion Anderson.
The Bears were ranked No. 25 in Class 5A in the final poll before the state playoffs by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.
In the playoffs, Bastrop reached the third round, downing Weiss 46-37 and Fort Bend Marshall 45-37 before losing to Waco Rudder 73-54. The Bears played Rudder closely until their tall posts, Navaeh Jones and Keyaira Limuel, fouled out.
Their remarkable overall record included 11-1 at home, 8-2 away, and 15-2 at neutral sites.
As a result of its second-place finish in district, Bastrop placed a number of athletes on the all-district team. Navaeh Jones, a 6-foot-2 senior, was recently voted co-MVP. Jones has signed a scholarship with Division I Charleston (S.C.) Southern.
She averaged 15.7 points, 14.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game in district, leading the team in points, rebounds, and blocks. She also shot 53.5% from the field, best on the team.
"Navaeh worked hard," Bastrop coach La Barbera Roberson said. "She had a big presence around the basket. She was really a great rebounder."
Keyaira Limuel, a 6-2 junior, impressed coaches to such an extent that she was named to the first team despite playing only four district contests. Limuel missed the first eight district games, waiting to be medically cleared after undergoing surgery for an ACL tear in her knee.
She averaged 17.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.5 assists per game.
"Keyaira is a force all by herself," Roberson said. "She has a heart to win. She'll put the team on her back and go."
Zo'nai Cook, a 5-1 point guard, earned second-team honors despite playing only three district games. Cook had surgery in late February for the third ACL tear in her right knee. Roberson predicted Cook's rehabilitation will take eight or nine months, which may run into next season.
Cook averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists, and 4.7 steals per game. She shot 51.9% from the field.
"I know we would have won state if Zo'nai had been healthy," said Roberson, who remembers Cook in an Elgin youth league at three years old competing against six year olds. "That's how good that team would have been with Zo'nai.
"She could read the floor very well. She could see the mismatches."
Shooting guard Kenadee Lawhon, a 5-5 junior, was chosen to the first team. She ended the season with 997 career points.
Lawhon averaged 13.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2.4 steals per game.
Alaysia Williams, a 5-5 senior who moved to point guard after Cook's injury, was named to the second team.
Williams averaged 7.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.0 steals a game.
Jones and Williams were selected to the all-region squad. Jones was also named second-team all-state, while Williams made honorable mention all-state.
The reason for Bastrop's success was simple, Roberson said.
"They had heart," she said. They had a desire to win. They wanted it. If one was having a bad game, they knew to find the one that was carrying them. They shared the ball. They fed off each other."
Roberson herself was named the district's coach of the year, the first time in her career.
"It should be the coaching staff of the year," she said. "Without the other coaches, I couldn't have made it.
"I enjoy every bit of it. I just do my job. And I keep God first in my life."
Jim Irish is a freelance writer in Bastrop, Texas
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