When you’ve coached high school basketball for over two decades, you’re bound to see a little bit of everything.
One year, you’re riding high as an undefeated district champion and matching the program record in wins.
The next year, you’re piecing together a roster nearly from scratch.
“I’ve been coaching 24 years,” Grand Oaks coach Shiakiea Carter said. “If you’ve been coaching that long, you’ve had these situations. I come to places to work and run a program. I came to Grand Oaks to work and run a program. Whatever is in front of me, that’s what I’m going to take and I’m going to run with it. I’m going to do the very best that I can to put my kids in the best situation to be successful each and every day.”
Carter has her best player back in Bree Riley, a super-talented junior guard who has been a success story for the Grizzlies since day one.
The rest of the roster is a bit of an unknown from the outside looking in.
A couple players expected to return this season ended up transferring – most notably junior guard Margan Allen, last year’s second-leading scorer at 13.6 points per game. Allen joined the Lions of Spring Legacy School of Sports Sciences in the offseason.
Every big contributor from the 27-7 (16-0) District 13-6A championship roster after that either graduated, transferred or decided not to play this season.
After Grand Oaks – in its second season of Class 6A ball – made the regional quarterfinals in the winter of 2021, it fell in the bi-district round to Cypress Ranch last February.
It’s a huge plus to have Riley back in the fold and she’s very experienced.
Riley burst on the scene as a freshman and is already a two-time District 13-6A Most Valuable Player.
Last year, Riley averaged 16.3 points per game while grabbing 3.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3 steals.
“Bree Riley means a lot,” Carter said. “Her presence will make a big impact. Her leadership alone – with a lot of young players – that’s going to be intertwined. Having her as an experienced point guard and an experienced player with multiple accolades and just being the player and person that she is is going to help string us along throughout the season.”
The 5-foot-7 guard pulled in Division I offers from Texas Southern, Liberty University and Stony Brook over the summer.
“I’ve been getting some phone calls and talking to some coaches that have been really impressed with her this summer,” Carter said. “With Bree, it’s just on the up and up.”
Carter has two players who were pulled up to the playoff roster that will be looked upon to contribute – Amariah Burns and Avery Dalton.
“It leaves just two kids that we brought up from the playoffs,” Carter said. “There were two post players that we brought up for the playoffs. They’ve been here. They know the expectations. They know what to do. It’s just all about us plugging them in.”
Otherwise, expect the Grizzlies to be a roster full of girls that played junior varsity, freshman and junior high players a year ago. According to Carter, the junior varsity won a district title a couple years ago and have just five district losses combined the past two seasons
“We’ve got a couple freshmen that came over from York Junior High,” she said. “We have a couple JV players from the previous years. You’re just looking for kids to impact you in the best ways possible. It’ll be a mixture.”
Like most programs across Texas, the Grizzlies have three tournaments on the docket during the first two months of the season and Carter is looking forward to seeing what she has.
“You learn a lot and you’re hoping the kids are learning as well,” Carter said. “It’s one of those things where you have to constantly tell yourself as a coach to not panic, don’t get overwhelmed, don’t throw the towel in. It’s a learning curve where you want to know where your weak spots are before you get to district. You want to know who really understands what you need from them.”
Joining Carter on the bench is a new first assistant and junior varsity head coach in Kevin Hill, who previously coached varsity boys basketball in Louisiana and most recently was at Peet Junior High, a feeder for Conroe High School. Also on staff is Huntsville native Bre’Neka O’Bryant, who was a girls coordinator last year at Mance Park Middle School.
“I don’t put all my eggs in one basket,” Carter said. “We’re just going to move forward. I’ve got two new coaches. My new assistant/JV coach is a great guy, a great coach. I’m looking for great things from him to bring to the program. We’re going to work together and do the necessary things. Our most important thing is to put our kids in the right position to be successful each and every day.”
