Ridgeland girls’ turnaround leads to first winning season in more than a decade
The Ridgeland girls are in the middle of one of the biggest turnarounds in high school basketball this season.
After last year’s injury-laden 5-21 season, the Panthers are healthy, focused and winning. Ridgeland, located in Rossville near the Tennessee border, is 21-3 and ranked No. 9 in Class 3A. The 16-win improvement is notable for a program that had its last winning season in 2013-14.
“We thought last season would be a good season, but we had a lot of injuries,” said Ridgeland coach Michael Baker, now in his seventh season as head coach. “We lost our best player (JaMiah Lewis) four games into the season at Thanksgiving and then lost our second-best player (Emma Fowler) at Christmas.”
The injuries destroyed any playoff hopes but also served to unite the rest of the team.
“Our core group decided to just join up and play on the same travel team together and play all year around,” Baker said. “They played in some big tournaments and worked really hard to get better and prepare for this one last year. Some of them have been working together since they were in kindergarten, and it’s shown to pay dividends.”
It also helped to get Lewis back from torn patellar tendon surgery for her senior season. She is averaging 18 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 blocked shots and scored her 1,000th career point. Lewis, who committed to the University of Virginia at Wise, was the Region 7-3A Player of the Year.
“She’s really resilient and determined,” Baker said. “As soon as she went down, she said, ‘I’m going fight hard to get right back.’ So she did. The doctors said she was ahead of where she should have been and was about to return to track within three months and was able to play basketball in the summer.”
The biggest addition was freshman Jordyn Thomas, Lewis’ cousin. The point guard is the team’s second-leading scorer (13.8 points per game) and averages 4.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 6.2 steals. According to MaxPreps, Thomas has more steals (149) than any player in the GHSA. She was voted first team all-region.
“She has made a huge impact,” Baker said. “Her addition has really helped.”
Baker said seniors Briannah Carson (4.4 rebounds) and Zoey Fleming (5.0 rebounds) are “the Dennis Rodmans for our team. They’re just feisty and tough. If there’s a ball bouncing around, they’re going to grab it.” Junior Sha Elliott is averaging 7 points.
There are good genes on the team, too.
JaMiah Lewis’ mother is assistant coach India (Turner) Manson, who scored 1,000 career points and was the star of the 2003 Ridgeland team that reached the state semifinals before losing to Hephzibah. Thomas’ mother, Tiffany Turner, is Manson’s sister and played on the 1994 state semifinals team.
Carson’s mother, Princess (Cameron) Carson, was a 1,000-point scorer and played on the 2003 state semifinalist, as did Elliott’s aunt, Shenay Foster.
Ridgeland entered the Region 7-3A tournament as the No. 3 seed. During the regular season, the Panthers split two games with No. 6-ranked Heritage-Ringgold, the top seed, but lost both games against Gilmer, the No. 2 seed. The final two rounds of the region tournament are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday in Calhoun.
About the Author
Stan Awtrey has been covering sports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1977. He currently writes about high school sports, Georgia State University athletics and golf.
