A New Era of Lady Patriot Basketball is Underway

By Don Meador,
Sports Writer

The 2025 summer basketball season for the Allen County-Scottsville Lady Patriot program has been filled with camping experiences and play days geared toward instilling new life into the tradition-rich program. New Coach Garry DeWitt has guided his team through a season of growing and learning that is expected to pay dividends next winter.

Practice for the summer slate started after Memorial Day with the team also continuing a summer tradition–the Lady Patriot youth camp.

“What an outstanding camp we had with 70 campers in attendance who learned, grew their basketball skills, and had a bunch of fun,” Coach DeWitt said. “Our Lady Patriot Basketball players took on the role as coaches for three days where they were given a group of young ladies they were responsible for. The campers looked up to their coaches to lead them to excellence. Our Lady Patriot players, as coaches, took such great care of their teams. It is special each year to see the bonds created between the coaches/players and their campers.”

With laying a foundation for future success in the books, AC-S turned attention to building the base for the ‘25-‘26 Lady Patriots. The first stop was a team camp at Glasgow High School.

“We played Monroe County and Glasgow on the first day and won both games,” DeWitt explained. “We played very well. The next day we played a tough John Hardin team. We played very well against them and pulled out the win. Our next opponent was Russell County. We struggled to score early, but fought back falling short by 4 points resulting in our first loss of the summer.”

From June 9 through June 11, AC-S traveled to Campbellsville University to play seven teams in three days.

“Campbellsville was our overnight trip for the summer,” DeWitt noted. “The first day, we won one and lost one. We lost to Elizabethtown by three points in a nail biter, which challenged our team to come together and play as a team. The next day, we played three games and won them all. The best game of the day was playing against Bullitt East on the main floor at Campbellsville University. As a team, we played together, controlled the boards, and took care of the basketball against tremendous pressure. The last day, we played two games and in the second game, we played a very tough Campbellsville team on their own home floor. During this game, I saw so much improvement in our team and how they turned up their defensive pressure, which helped us pull out a 41-27 win. I am so proud of our team and how coachable they are.”

The next camp experience was at Lindsey Wilson University.

“We won two games and lost two games,” DeWitt explained. “We faced two really good teams in Crittenden County and North Laurel. Both of them beat us; however, we played really well in the second half of each of these games. We beat Pulaski Southwestern and Wayne County and I witnessed tremendous growth in both games.”

The Lady Patriots’ final team camp was at Western Kentucky University.

“We played Betsy Lane High School and Heritage Hills Academy and won both games,” DeWitt said. “In the Heritage Hills game, we played without Avery Morris and Payton Marr because of injuries, which gave our other players a chance to step up and prove themselves. All of our players stepped up and got that win for the Lady Patriot Basketball team. We often talk about ‘next man up’ and how everyone must be ready when their number is called. We saw that.”

Looking at the summer overall, DeWitt came away with many positives to build on going forward.

“Our overall defensive pressure and hustle on defense have been tremendous,” DeWitt explained. “We are getting really good at trapping the ball in our half-court defenses. We controlled the boards in all but two of our summer games. Debora Patrick has proven to be a tremendous rebounder and so have Kyra and Payton Marr. Allison Ford has grabbed several rebounds and Leighton Boler is an outstanding rebounder as well. Our guards, Avery Morris, Addy Law, Kensley Byrn, and Kennedy Carter have learned the importance of crashing the boards. Offensively, we have shown great improvement. Avery Morris is our leader on the point. She shot the three-pointer extremely well all summer, found her teammates open for shots, and got the ball to them. Debora (Patrick) played so hard inside and worked to get great looks at the basket. She, along with the Marr twins–Kyra and Payton–have proven to be hard for opponents to guard in the post. Addy (Law) had to play point in several games and proved she is ready to handle the pressure. Allison (Ford) is a very effective defender and uses her ability to get deflections, block shots, and get turnovers that turn into points for us. Kennedy (Carter) is most known for her three-point shooting, but proved a great defender through hustle and determination all summer. Kensley (Byrn) proved that she is ready to play as a guard or as an inside player. Her hard work on defense and crashing the boards on the offensive end have shown she is ready to contribute at the varsity level. Leighton (Boler) works extremely hard all of the time. She is a great rebounder who has a knack for anticipating when the ball goes up to get in the right position to get the ball off the glass.”

DeWitt likes what he has witnessed with his varsity team in 19 games in the past month. However, the veteran coach knows much work remains.

“Overall, we went 14-5 for the summer, however no one hangs banners on the championship wall for summer basketball,” DeWitt pointed out. “We had a great summer with so much improvement from our varsity kids all the way through to our junior varsity players. I am looking forward, along with my assistant coaches Billy Joe Miller, Chis Roy and Lindsey Boler, to a very successful season in the 2025-26 basketball season.”

The Lady Patriots will take the month of July as a break before resuming conditioning drills and activities once school starts in August. Official practice starts October 15.