The Watson Chapel Lady Wildcats are the defending 5A state basketball champions, and they’ve had a nice start to their 2016-2017 campaign. The Wildcats are under the leadership of Head Coach Leslie Henderson, who has built a culture and identity for the program over the years.
After losing a couple players from last season’s state title run, the Lady Wildcats have been working on filling those positions. Even though Henderson is still looking for a few players to step up, she’s content with what she’s seen up to this point.
“I’m pretty pleased with our progress from the beginning of the season,” Henderson said. “We knew from the start that we had a couple of pieces missing, and we’ve been working on filling those voids. Tyesha Fields has come on and done an excellent job, but we still need a couple others to step up. There’s still a lot we need to improve on, including handling pressure better.”
Fields is a junior guard, and she’s surrounded by quality leadership, with the Lady Wildcats having three key seniors. Those seniors have provided Watson Chapel with experience, and senior forward Peyton Martin returned this season as the MVP of the 5A state tournament.
“We have three seniors that are back that will be big for us all season,” Henderson said. “Peyton Martin, Timesha Cole and Cayla Trotter are all leaders. Jerrica Bell is a junior that has really come on strong in the post.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Lady Wildcats competed recently in the Searcy Bank Classic, where they were able to go unbeaten — since then, they’ve pushed their win streak to five games with wins over Vilonia and Little Rock Christian. The two losses suffered by the Lady Wildcats have come at the hands of quality opponents. They dropped their second game to North Little Rock, and a couple games later, they lost to Pulaski Academy.
“Obviously its something we’ve talked about,” Henderson said, noting that the team seems to have a target on the backs being the defending state champions. “Everybody’s giving us their best shot and we witnessed it first hand at PA. We have to be ready every night because it means something to all of our opponents. Everybody wants to beat the defending state champs.”
Next, Watson Chapel will host the Sylvan Hills Lady Bears, who only have two losses on the season as well. The Lady Wildcats have watched their film, and they’re aware of what Sylvan Hills will look to do.
“As far as watching them on tape, they’ve got two really good outside shooters,” Henderson said. “Their post players are they’re go-to people. They’re going to pressure us and play zone, it ought to be a pretty good match up.”